Touhou: Defense Against the Unseen World
by A Resident No-Life
Summary: Yukari Yakumo, upon reading a newspaper about the outside world losing signal to the humans they sent to Mars, decided to investigate what was found on the surface of this new planet. Being caught by the Martians, she managed to learn more about this new city, however the Martians end up displeased with the following events. Rated T for lots of action.
1. A new planet! - What could await there?

**I apologise in advance for any spelling or grammatical errors**

Somewhere within the boundary of Gensokyo, Yukari Yakumo, the Youkai of Boundaries, lived within a house separate from the rest of Gensokyo. Her hand flipped the newspaper from the outside world she had taken using her boundary manipulation ability, as she read about what had been happening outside of Gensokyo. She stopped flipping the pages, as a news headline caught her eye.

"Ah," she said, looking through the article. Her Shikigami, Ran Yakumo, looked over as Yukari read the article.

"What is it, master?" Ran asked, as her interest seemed peaked as well. It was unusual for Yukari to act this way about the proceedings of the outside world, after all. She would usual flip through the pages, not finding anything of interest as she only looked at the headlines.

"The humans began an expedition to Mars," Yukari said, looking up from her paper. "They attached incredibly long range, powerful signals to make sure they reached it, however, a few minutes after their arrival the signals went dark. They know it wasn't a fault, the signals worked perfectly when they arrived. They fear it has something to do with life-forms on Mars."

"This sounds familiar to the moon incident," Ran said, sitting down. "The humans went to the moon, and their attempts to claim it as their own were sabotaged by the Lunarians. To think they would go as far as an entirely different planet after such a defeat seems not to make sense."

"Ran," Yukari said, standing up. "I'm going to investigate Mars."

"What?" Ran asked, surprised by her statement. "B-but who knows what may be there? Martians have gone under the radar from both us and the outside world, they may be too powerful!"

Yukari shook her head. "I'm going," she said. "To see what I can find."

And with that, Yukari opened a gap between boundaries in front of her and stepped through, leaving Ran behind.

On the surface of Mars, Yukari stepped out of her gap filled with eyes and onto the red-tinted surface. The gap closed behind her, as she looked around at the barren landscape. There were a few craters scattered around, but as far as the eye could see there was nothing resembling a city or anywhere for life-forms to exist, for that matter. She turned head into outer space, looking at two crescent shaped objects, as one seemed to move slightly around the other.

"Hm…" Yukari said, looking around. "Based on when it said the humans left for Mars, their transport should be in this area. However, there is nothing. Perhaps the Martians took it," she added to herself, before catching something out of the corner of her eye. She walked over to what appeared to be a crater, seemingly smaller than all the other craters. "This would be where they landed. If it only took minutes for the Martians to find them, and based on this mark from when someone seemed to have jumped off a rocket…" she said, looking to the side of the crater where a small mark was present. She then created a gap and used it to move about two hundred meters away from where she was. "Hello!? Martians!? I'm here to question you about a few things!"

After she shouted out to gain some sort of attention, a girl, about up to Yukari's nose, appeared out from nowhere. She had long, lavender hair and the same coloured eyes.

"Human… how did you find this place?" she asked, approaching Yukari as her expression appeared to stay neutral.

"Ah, an invisible city. Just as I figured," Yukari smiled. "I found this place by my own accord. I come in peace, and I have some questions for your higher-ups. Unless, of course, you are a high ranking person on Mars, which would make my job a lot easier."

"I am not who you would be talking to," the Martian said, grabbing Yukari's wrist. "I am the Minister of Chemicals, Saiko Kurosawa. I believe you would want the Minister of Intelligence, Hiroko Amagai."

"Ah, I see," Yukari said, smiling again. "So, the invisible city of Mars operates upon ministries. That's some good information, thank you. However, could you please release my wrist?"

Saiko, to Yukari's surprise, released her wrist and walked away from her. She turned around after walking about twelve steps away from her, before turning around. "However, i'm afraid you can not meet with the Minister of Intelligence. You will be locked up, and I am afraid you will not be able to meet the outside again. This is merely a precaution against you humans."

"Oh, that's a shame," Yukari sighed, seemingly not affected by Saiko's words. "Here I am, a normal tourist and you must lock me away," She took her fan out with the same hand at which Saiko grabbed her wrist, and fanned herself with it, smiling. "Well, if you must. Take me to your cage."

Saiko narrowed her eyes, seemingly not paying too much attention to what Yukari was saying, as she raised her hand in a clicking formation. With a swift movement of her thumb, Yukari suddenly passed out on the ground, her fan and umbrella falling next to her. Saiko walked over to her, picking up both the umbrella and fan for herself. "Guards! Take her to the prison!" She shouted, as she walked back into the invisible city. Two guards walked out and picked up Yukari's body, taking her into the city.

Yukari woke up in a cell, as she stood up. "Hm…" She said, looking around. ' _So, that Saiko was the Minister of Chemicals… when she touched my wrist she must have put some Chemical in the germs she passed onto me that would cause me to pass out. Interesting ability.'_ she thought to herself, smiling. ' _Of course, that's just an assumption.'_ she shrugged, before looking around. The cell was small, and red bricks was the foundation of these cells. There was also a bed, which she didn't wake up on, as well as a small, barred window. ' _So, all this was inside the city unseeable from the outside.'_ she thought to herself, as she pushed her arm out of the cell. "Go out, my cute little familiar." She whispered, as her familiar, Goki, flew out from beneath her sleeve.

Yukari sat down on a bed, looking out through the bars of her cell. There was a larger room outside, that she could not access. It appeared there was nobody else in the room, as there were no other cells. "Ah, appears i'm alone. Looks like i'm special," She joked to herself, as she sighed.

A few minutes later, the door to the larger room outside of her cell opened, as Saiko again walked through the door. "It appears Hiroko is interested in speaking to you. Come with me," She said, opening the cell as she narrowed her eyes at Yukari.

"Ah, brilliant," Yukari said, standing off her bed and walking out. "What did you say about me never meeting your Ministry of Intelligence?" She joked, walking behind Saiko out of the room. Saiko didn't answer, ignoring Yukari. "Talkative, aren't you? Where's my umbrella and fan, by the way?"

"I'm holding onto them both," Saiko said, not looking at Yukari. "I'm looking at their chemical compositions to see if there is anything wrong with them."

"Ah, yes, the Minister of Anxiety," Yukari whispered to herself, rolling her eyes.

"We're here," Saiko said, ignoring Yukari's words as she opened the door. "She waits for you," She said, walking away as Yukari stepped into the room.

The room was mostly made of a wood-like material than the red bricks of the other areas, creating a more calm atmosphere and a decent change of vision. There was a table in the center, with two chairs, one on the side of the door and the other on the opposite. There also appeared to be books laid upon the shelves around the room, almost like a small library. On the chair facing Yukari, a young looking girl was reading a book. As she laid it down, her short, light green hair and golden eyes were revealed, as the top of her dress was tied together with ribbons.

"Sit down, please," She said politely, gesturing to the chair across from her.

"Ah, thank you," Yukari said, taking the chair and sitting down. "I'm Yu-"

"Yukari Yakumo, Youkai of the Boundary. You have the ability to manipulate Boundaries, including the ability to use portals to make your way to many different places, which is how you made your way here. You serve as a sort of Guard Dog to a place named 'Gensokyo'," Hiroko said.

"Ah, it appears i'm famous even among Martians," Yukari said, surprised by Hiroko's knowledge. "And I assume you're Hiroko Amagai, the Minister of Intelligence."

"Correct," Hiroko said. "It appears we don't need to introduce ourselves. I would like to ask about this 'Gensokyo' place first. What is it?"

"A city," Yukari said simply, not going into much detail.

"We haven't found a place known as 'Gensokyo' yet. We have someone who can find different planets and places on those planets, yet Gensokyo seemed to have gone under her radar," Hiroko added, resting her head in her hands. "So, what is it?"

"Well, it's a city," Yukari said, still refusing to go into detail about the place. "What else is there to say?"

"I see," Hiroko said, sighing. "It appears you're going to be defiant. No matter, I have more questions to ask. You're planet has a moon also, correct? We found a city-like structure on that moon. Is there anything you'd like to say about that city?"

"Ah, the Lunar Capital?" Yukari asked. "I never really learnt too much about the people there. I have no comment about it."

"I see," Hiroko said, once again. "Why did you come here?"

"I found out about the humans coming here losing signal, so I wanted to investigate. Then a certain someone made me pass out and took me to a cell," Yukari explained, sighing.

"So, you came here by your own curiosity," Hiroko said, taking her head out of her hands.

"Now, my turn," Yukari smiled. "What's with this invisible city? And what do you plan to do with this city? And what's with the Ministries? And when do I get my umbrella and fan back?"

"Ah-ha," Hiroko said, smiling as her eyes closed. "May I remind you who the captive is here? I will not answer your questions, i'm afraid. Though, I still have one more to ask. We saw a crow around that we had never seen within the city before. Was that your doing?"

"No, I don't own a crow, yet alone would bring one here to Mars with me," Yukari said, sighing. "Though, I came here to learn about the Martians, and all I learnt was two of however many ministries and about an invisible city."

"Five ministries," Hiroko smiled. "And you should be rather proud of that. Many people do not find out anything of this planet before being captured. You, of course, can leave whenever you want with your ability. We do not have an ability to hinder that."

"Good to know," Yukari said, sighing. "So, my ability is why you're so adamant to answer my questions. Well, is that all you'd like to know about all this?"

"Well, I would have preferred to know about this Gensokyo place. I would also be interested in this crow that's flying around everywhere, but it is what it is. I apologise for any inconvenience with this questioning. I'll lead you back to your cell," Hiroko said, leading Yukari back to her cell.

Yukari sat down on her bed as Hiroko walked out of the larger room. Yukari stood up, standing near the window and bringing her arm out of the window, as Goki landed on her index finger. "Thank you, Goki. We may leave now," She said, as she opened a boundary beneath her, falling through.

She emerged once again within the Gensokyo boundary, standing next to Ran and alarming her as Goki disappeared. "Ah, master Yukari, you startled me," Ran said, placing a hand on her chest in an attempt to catch her breath quicked. Yukari smiled, turning her head to face Ran. "Did you enjoy your trip? You were gone for two days… I was beginning to get worried."

"Two days?" Yukari asked, surprised at how long she had been gone. "Was I asleep for that long?"

"It appears so," Ran said, nodding her head as she fully caught her breath again. "What did you learn about the Martians?"

"Well, less than I should have in two days. They live in an invisible city on Mars and that city is ran by five Ministries, two of them being the Ministry of Chemicals and Intelligence. The former gave me some sort of chemical through her germs which caused me to pass out for two days, whereas the latter seemed more to interview me about Gensokyo and the Lunar Capital mostly. I also managed to learn about the area inside the invisible city thanks to Goki. The city itself is not invisible, rather is has a border around the outside that causes it to appear as invisible," Yukari explained.

"I see," Ran said, holding her chin in her fingers. "We still have no idea about any plans. I fear that your capturing and appearance there may lead the Lunar Capital and Gensokyo, as well as the world, at risk from a Martian invasion."

"Come to think of it, they didn't know of Gensokyo at all before now, and Hiroko, the Minister of Intelligence, did seem intrigued by it. Though, I think we need not worry about that for now. It would have been nice to learn more about them, however," Yukari sighed.

"Perhaps you could find a way to sneak in once again," Ran said. "Perhaps steal some sort of book about the history of the Martian City and find out what they've done in the past. I still do not trust them to stay silent now, however, having found out about Gensokyo."

"Hiroko did seem a little weird," Yukari nodded, closing her eyes. "She introduced me by saying I am the 'Guard Dog of Gensokyo', but then expressed no knowledge that she knew Gensokyo existed at all. By that fact, I think she didn't know me before that interrogation, which is rather concerning, and interesting."

"Do you plan to return there?" Ran asked, tilting her head to one side, onto her shoulder.

"Not myself, no. Though, it would be helpful if we could find a way to send someone there in disguise and get some knowledge about the Martian City. Come to think of it, on my way to Hiroko I did spot some pets, such as cats, around the place that did resemble the cats from Gensokyo."

"D-do you mean to tell me you wish to send Chen there as a spy?" Ran asked, surprised by what Yukari said. "She's in no form to go out to the moon, yet alone Mars. I'm sorry but I must object to that idea."

"I don't seem to think the Satori Youkai in the underground would allow her cat to go, either," Yukari said, adding a sigh in at the end. "Chen is our best shot. All she'd need to do is find any history book. Besides, I have a good idea of where everything is thanks to Goki. I can make sure she stays safe, so long as she doesn't materialise into her regular, human-like form."

"Master, I-" Ran began, before stopping herself midway though her sentence. "I don't want Chen to be risking herself like that. It's too dangerous for me to let her go."

"I understand that," Yukari said, nodding. "However, I believe it necessary we have some sort of spy on Mars, and Chen is perfect for that role. All I want is a history book, and I have a good idea where one would be. I promise to allow her back after she has found it."

"Master…" Ran said, seemingly thinking as to what she should respond with. "I… alright. Though, i'm sending one of our crow familiars with her to keep an eye on her, from a distance of course."

"Acceptable," Yukari smiled, seemingly happy with the response she got. "Send Goki with her. The Martians have already seen him, it won't be exactly out of place than another crow appearing. Besides, someone there may have an ability to see the difference between different crows."

"That's an… oddly specific ability to count for," Ran sighed, looking down. "I hope Chen will be okay on this trip."

"She'll be fine, you worry too much," Yukari said, walking past her. "I'll be seeing the area through Goki's eyes, if I see her in trouble i'll open a gap back here to keep her safe."

"Understood, master," Ran said, still seeming a bit uneasy about allowing Chen to go to Mars with little knowledge of what the Martian's are truly like.

 ***Spell Card!* Character Insight!**

 **Yukari Yakumo: The Youkai that lurks within the boundary. She has a rather lazy personality, often preferring to use her boundary powers to move around. She is also rather manipulative, shown when she made Ran Yakumo send Chen to Mars. She found out about the Martians from a newspaper from the outside world, and chose to investigate the area. She has the ability to manipulate boundaries, allowing her to do many things, including open portals to different areas and much more. She has a shikigami known as 'Ran Yakumo'.**

 **Ran Yakumo: Yukari's shikigami and Chen's master. She usually tends to follow what Yukari says, though is worried about the safety of her shikigami when Yukari persuades her to send Chen to Mars. She has the ability to use shikigami to her advantage.**

 **Chen 'Yakumo': Ran Yakumo's shikigami, Chen, can be rather mischievous at times. However, she is still loyal to her master, as well as her master's master, Yukari Yakumo. She was sent to Mars as a spy and to gather insight into the Martians due to her ability to use sorcery, namely being able to give herself the appearance of a normal cat.**


	2. Spy mission! - Plot to take the Moon?

In the Boundary of Gensokyo, Yukari walked over to Chen, who was sitting down, playing with a ball of yarn. Ran was next to Yukari as they walked over to her. Chen heard both of their footsteps, so she looked up at the two of them, Yukari smiling and Ran looking a little more serious.

"Hello Chen," Yukari smiled, waving a 'hello' to her as well. "How are you today?"

"I'm fine!" Chen said, smiling as she picked up her ball of yarn again. "Did you come to play with me?"

"No, no," Yukari shook her head, as she kneeled down. "I have an important job for you, dear Chen. You see, people on Mars defeated people from the outside world, and i'd like you to sneak onto Mars, using my ability, and go here," Yukari said, unraveling a map she made of the area from Goki's surveillance. "Inside a cabinet in this room, there should be some sort of book that Goki, nor I, would be able to get, due to Goki not being able to pick it up and i'd be far too noticeable to steal it away. I'll be dropping you here, outside the place where this book is held. I believe it would be important for us, in case the Martian's choose to attack Gensokyo."

"Huh?" Chen asked, standing up as she dropped her ball of yarn. "An important job? For me? F-from Miss Yukari?"

Yukari smiled, bringing her hand out to Chen's face. "Yes. If you succeed, you'll be doing me and Ran a great favour, as well as many other people, i'm sure. You should sneak into the tunnel area through here, if you can. If not, wait for someone to attempt to enter or exit the room and sneak in then. We're counting on you. Remember to remain in your cat form unless it is absolutely necessary for you to transform back, or when you find the history book."

"O-of course, Miss Yukari!" Chen smiled, as she transformed into her cat form. Yukari stood up again, as she opened a gap beneath Chen, waving goodbye as Ran did the same. Goki flew through a seperate gap Yukari created in order to keep an eye on Chen. Once the cat left, Ran turned to Yukari.

"You purposely didn't mention about that part of the plan, didn't you?" She said, looking down to where Chen once was. Yukari smiled in response.

"She shouldn't think that of part of my plan, and merely a happy happenstance that she happened to overhear such things. There's no doubt in my mind that they'd do that, with the fact they run on Ministries," Yukari explained, before walking into the house that her, Ran and Chen lived in. "Keep an eye on her through Goki for me. She's your Shikigami, after all. Tell me if she needs a quick evacuation."

Ran nodded, looking upwards towards the sky. 'I hope you're right about this, Yukari.' She thought to herself, as she accessed the eyes of Goki in order to make sure Chen stayed safe.

Chen was dropped in a barren area of the Martian City, where Yukari must of noticed it had no purpose and therefore, nobody would notice her there. Chen looked around, slowly pacing towards alleyways and creeping closer to the mansion that Yukari had set as a destination point for her, as if she were a normal alley cat. The surface remained a tinted red colour, as the buildings were grand, even if they were only for one or two low ranking residents. Through the alleyways, Chen could see people who resembled humans, however tended to be taller than the average human, or human-like Youkai from earth. It appeared to be a well populated city, and rightfully so as it appeared to be the only city Martians could use as residence.

'Wow…' Chen thought, in astonishment of the people she saw and the architecture of another planet. She shook herself off, as she continued making her way around the city, towards an even larger and grander place than the city streets, situated roughly in the middle of the city. It appeared to be a palace, where life would provide all one could possibly need just by living in there. The outer walls had towers scaling up, and gates on every side of it. Chen walked towards one of the gates, the eastern gate, and slowly peered her little cat head around the corner to look in. Nobody was there.

She smiled to herself, as much as a cat can appear to do so, and squeezed herself through the gate, still going unnoticed by the martians. She looked around the square-shaped courtyard, as it had patched of luscious plants that appeared out of the world she had known. It all looped around to other gates, that she could also have just as easily squeezed herself through. She walked towards the grand palace, looking for the open window of a kitchen that Yukari had told her to go through. Upon finding that kitchen window, on the other side of the palace, she lept inwards. Nobody was there.

Goki flew in after her, and flew up some sort of air-vent looking place at the top of the kitchen. Chen managed to make her way up and into it, as she was relieved her jumping hadn't lead her to a vertical shoot downwards that she would fall through, but rather a diagonal place she could easily walk up. 'Yukari said the room is just at the end of this…' Chen thought to herself, as she proudly paced forward and up to the room she was designated to go to. 'This seems to be a diagonal shoot for sliding messages down… like someone in the room would order food by sliding the order down here into the kitchen. How convenient!'

At the end of the shoot, Chen quickly staggered backwards, before composing herself and looking through the other end. The room was large, and had a round table in the middle to seat five. There was a cupboard-like thing opposite the door, which Yukari had marked as what Chen needed to go to. However, around the table, five people were seated, having a discussion that Chen could barely overhear. One of them was a relatively tall girl with lavender hair, another was slightly shorter and sported long, brown hair that seemed to be kept in pristine condition. The one on the other side of the one with pristine, brown hair was a much shorter girl, with short, light green hair and golden eyes that Chen could make out even from up where she was. Next to her was a girl, around medium height with long, red hair. And finally, the last one was a girl with blonde hair down to her shoulders.

"A human spy, you say?" The one with brown hair asked, looking at the lavender haired girl.

"It appeared that way," Saiko said in response, looking at her. "I apprehended her out of suspicion, before Hiroko insisted I let her speak with her. I have no idea how she managed to get onto this planet without a rocket ship."

"I do," Hiroko responded, smiling. "And she wasn't human. She was a youkai of boundaries, who likely opened a portal on the surface of our planet to make her way here. She appeared to be coming here out of curiosity for our other planet, rather than any malicious, spy means."

'Youkai of boundaries…' Chen thought to herself. 'She means Yukari! So Yukari knows these people?'

"Still, without doubting your intellect, I believe we should facilitate ourselves as the dominant beings in this scenario," The fiery haired one said, yawning slightly as she did. "This is the second time within three days people from that planet have come here, it's like they believe they own the planet."

"Well, the city is invisible, in case you forgot," Hiroko reminded her. "They didn't know we existed in the first place. I believe this no means to attempt a war against their planet."

"I found some sort of satellite orbiting the planet, much like our two satellites orbit our own," the brown haired one said. "Perhaps it is beneficial to start there. By waging a war against them, we get more ground in the solar system, and any other beings out there will begin to fear us. Isn't that what master set us up to do? Conquer space so she can rule it as her own? So far, we've done nothing but observe."

"This is our chance to do as master wants us to do," The fiery haired one said. "Our troops have been training for years, centuries even! How long do you expect master to be fine with us sitting around and doing nothing in her name?"

"I do also believe this is a chance we ought not to miss," the blonde one finally perked up. "As Minister of Resources, this is one strategic advantage for us. With our troops closer to the Earth, we'd be able to find any resources they may use against us, and strategically prepare our conquering of the vast reaches of space. With Kaiya's ability, we'd be able to strike the people of that satellite off-guard and easily conquer them."

"Well… it appears my choice is outnumbered," Hiroko sighed, resting her head in her hand. "Though, we do not know the power of the people who live in that city on that satellite. If you do wish to attempt to conquer that satellite to gain a more close proximity to the Earth, consider the fact that they might have people on there that exceed even our own power. The Youkai of Boundaries seemed to be close to matching our power, who knows what the satellite could have in store."

"Well, i'll be ready to evacuate everyone should the need arise," The brown haired one, who was assumed to be named 'Kaiya' by Chen, said. "Even if her power comes close to matching us, Kasumi far exceeds all of our strengths, and she is the one we will be sending to the satellite, I presume."

"Well, I believe that's settled," Hiroko sighed, standing up. "Looks like we're finally making our move after one-thousand, two-hundred and thirty-eight years. If we do lose, however, don't say I didn't warn you."

With that, all five of them left the room, leaving Chen alone in the shoot. 'They plan to take the moon in… a war…' She thought to herself, worried of what might happen before shaking it off. 'No, Yukari will know what to do to prevent them. Everything will be fine!' she smiled as she jumped down into the room, reverting to her humanoid form as she opened the cupboard and took the book out of it. "History of the Invisible City…" she whispered out loud. "Wonder if this will help Yukari in stopping the Martians…"

As she said that, a gap opened behind her, as Chen nodded and quickly hopped into, proud of her success in finding what Yukari wanted. She emerged on the other side, as did Goki as it flew through the gap as well, still with the book in hand. "I did it!" She smiled, proudly holding up the book as she exclaimed her success. Ran appeared proud, stroking her head as Yukari took the book, looking a little more serious as she had overheard the Martian's plans through Goki's ears.

"Well done Chen!" Ran seemed excited for the cat girl also, as Yukari smiled in response to Chen as well. "I'll ready your treat later. Right now, me and Yukari must discuss something."

"Oh, okay!" Chen exclaimed, walking off proudly as she left the two of them alone. Ran's smile lingered for a second, as she turned to Yukari.

"What do you intend to do?" Ran asked, as Yukari set the book down for later reading.

"Warn the Lunarians of oncoming threat," Yukari replied, standing up as she looked over to Ran in the same motion. "The Martian's seem to have the means of reaching the moon whenever they want. Thankfully, I can also reach the moon as I please thanks to my ability. I will warn them of the events to come, although they may not appreciate me being there at first."

"I see…" Ran said, nodding to the fact.

"I'll emerge at the Sea of Prosperity again. Best case scenario, one of the sisters would be able to notice me there," Yukari said, as she opened another gap in front of her. "You should get around to treating Chen," She said, as she walked through the gap. Ran nodded, as she went out of the room.

Yukari emerged above the Sea of Prosperity, as she looked around for anyone that may be there. 'Looks like I'll have to fly my way to the Lunar Capital, then.' she thought to herself, as she began flying over the Sea and towards solid land. Shortly after crossing the seas, she heard a voice that she recognised.

"You're here again?" It said, as a blonde girl, holding a fan, walked over to her. "Don't tell me you expect to be able to get into the Lunar Capital and do any stealing, right? You didn't even bring that nine-tailed fox along with you."

"Ah, Watatsuki no Toyohime," Yukari smiled. "I thank you, you have made my job here much easier."

"Oh?" Toyohime asked, gripping her fan with her left hand to stop her moving it. "Please, elaborate on what this job you have here is."

*Spell Card!* World and Character Insight!

According the the Martian's book of history on the Invisible City:

The city was founded under one ruler, and that ruler assigned certain jobs to five of her strongest and closest allies, creating the five Martian Ministries of what the Invisible City foundates on: The Ministry of Chemicals, The Ministry of Discovery, The Ministry of Intelligence, The Ministry of Resources and the Ministry of Battle. The people she entrusted these rankings upon to are as follows:

The Minister of Chemicals: Saiko Kurosawa. She is rather serious of her high ranking among the Martians, and her cautious and cold personality reflects her desire to keep the Invisible City safe. She has the ability to Manipulate Chemicals using Germs, allowing her to place any Chemical to serve any purpose upon anything she touches with her hand.

The Minister of Discovery: Kaiya Amari. She was placed in charge of discovering new planets for the Martians to conquer under their Master's name. She is possibly the most loyal to her master, not doing as she does for any personal means outside of curiosity. She has the ability to instantly transport as many people as she pleases to any area in space.

The Minister of Intelligence: Hiroko Amagai. As the smartest Martian, she was given the name 'Supernatural Mind' by many people. She is mostly in charge of finding out about the planets that Kaiya discovers, as well as being the only Martian, even among Ministers, to have known contact with the Master of the Martians. She has the ability to instantly know anything about someone upon direct eye contact, however she only knows about them, not about what things they've done are.

The Minister of Resources: Yorimi Kawakami. Was entrusted as the Minister of Resources due to a lifelong fascination with different materials and what their uses could be. Her motivation for wanting to seize the moon was related to this fact, as she wanted to know what she could find on the moon and, by extension, on Earth. She currently serves as the Weapon Administrator for the Martian Army, due to her ability to combine materialise to instantly create anything she desires out of those materials.

The Minister of Battle: Kasumi Tadeyuki. As the 'Strongest Martian' outside of their master, she was entrusted to lead the wars to conquer the different places within outer space, however has never gotten the chance to lead such a war until now. She has a fiery will for battle, as well as being incredibly skilled in swordsmanship. She has the ability to summon familiars for battle, and also the ability to use said familiars to enhance her power further.

These five were entrusted to keep stable control over Mars, such that the Martian residents begin to make conspiracy theories about whether there is a master of the Martian's or not, including Kasumi being slightly skeptical. The only person who 'Knows for sure' to them is Hiroko, as she is recorded to be the only person ever to have spoken to, or interacted with this 'Master' in the history of Mars.


	3. A battle begins! - Who will it favour?

"Well, I fear your moon may be in a slight bit of danger," Yukari said, sighing. "I went to Mars myself, then sent a spy of my own there and it appears they wish to gain ground in outer space, starting with the moon that orbits the Earth here."

Toyohime narrowed her eyes in disbelief, as she opened her fan over her face. "You mean to tell me there's civilization on Mars? And you just found it out?"

"Indeed I do," Yukari nodded. "They reside within an invisible city, which is why they managed to stay under the radar for so long. How they managed to make a city invisible, well, that's an answer I don't know yet."

"I don't believe you," Toyohime said, tilting her head to one side. "Knowing what you've come here to do in the past, you're probably using this as an excuse to get into the Lunar Capital. Do you have any sort of proof these Martian's exist?"

Yukari nodded, as she opened a gap next to her and reached her hand in. She pulled it out, bringing with it a book titled 'History of the Invisible City', before throwing it over to Toyohime to take a look. She opened the book on the first page, before flipping through the large book quickly.

"Well, it seems it may exist," Toyohime said, shutting the book after seemingly not reading any of its contents. "I'll be taking this now. Better in our hands than yours."

Yukari sighed, as a gap opened behind her. "Fine. Make sure to warn Lord Tsukuyomi about the oncoming invasion."

"I have proof that the city exists, not that there will be an invasion," Toyohime said, turning away from her. "Though, it would be bad to be caught of guard."

Yukari nodded, walking behind her and out through the gap, as it closed. Toyohime turned around once again, before looking down at the history book. "Like we'd lose even without being warned. How much do you underestimate us?" She whispered, before making her way back to the Lunar Capital.

Back in the Lunar Capital, Toyohime kneeled herself down in front of Lord Tsukuyomi, the lord of the Lunar Capital and its key founder, with the book in her hand. She held it out to him so he could take it.

"Yukari Yakumo, the Boundary Youkai, came. She said that there was life on Mars in the form of Martians, and that they plan to invade the moon. She gave this as proof of their existence, but gave nothing in the form of proof that they will invade, Lord Tsukuyomi." Toyohime said, with the mannerisms that would go along with speaking to her Lord.

"I see," Tsukuyomi said, opening the book and scanning through the pages, spending a bit more time on each page than Toyohime did. "How strong are these Martians, did she say?"

"She did not," Toyohime answered with a shake of her head. "Though, she deemed it worthy enough to warn us about it. This may be no laughing matter, like the previous Lunar Wars were."

"Hmm…" Lord Tsukuyomi said, looking through the pages still. "Ready the defenses. Should we receive no sighting of anyone within twenty-four hours, withdraw."

"Understood," Toyohime nodded, standing up and walking out of the room.

Toyohime opened another door, walking through it to the other side and standing in the open doorway. "Yorihime," She said, catching the attention of her younger sister, Watatsuki no Yorihime, who looked up at her. "Lord Tsukuyomi gave us an order. We have to ready the defense force for twenty-four hours. There's rumor of an oncoming Martian invasion."

"Martian invasion?" Yorihime asked, standing up as she laid her book on the table in front of her. "You mean there's people on Mars? I thought that was found to be uninhabited."

"So did I," Toyohime sighed, holding her hand out as if she were annoyed. "But it turns out they have a way to make their city invisible, according to some book the gap Youkai supposedly stole from the Martians."

Yorihime also sighed, walking towards the door, causing Toyohime to step back. "So, we're up against people from outside of Gensokyo?" Yorihime asked rhetorically. "Who knows, they might be strong. Let's go mobilize the forces and send some spies out to see if anyone comes."

"Whatever you say," Toyohime said, fanning herself with her fan. "Though, I don't see much of a need to worry. We're much stronger as a whole than Gensokyo is and if things do go sour, we have Sagume to change the tides of war."

"We're dealing with another planet entirely than Gensokyo, Toyohime." Yorihime sighed. "Who knows how advanced they could be? They concealed their city with some sort of invisibility power, and they may have a way to take Sagume off guard and defeat her, meaning we lose that part. We should just get out and get this over with."

"Yes, yes." Toyohime said, fanning herself as she walked out of the room, Yorihime close behind her.

Within the same hour, Yorihime and Toyohime had mobilized the Lunar Capital's defence forces and positioned themselves outside the gate to the Lunar Capital. Toyohime walked over to her sister, her fan over her mouth.

"No word yet," she said to her. "Do you think this was just a hoax set up by the gap Youkai to sneak into the capital while it's less guarded from the inside?"

"If it was, that's something we can deal with when that time comes," Yorihime answered. "I positioned a few of our moon rabbits around the Lunar Capital on look out, so if she does get sighted we should be reported on that. Not to mention Sagume is overseeing the area for now, keeping an eye on things to make sure they don't turn sour for us if there is a war."

"Oh, that's helpful," Toyohime said, smiling. "Honestly, with this set up I doubt we can lose."

"Don't get too cocky," Yorihime said, narrowing her eyes slightly. "You never know what they may have up their sleeves."

Meanwhile, in the invisible Martian city, Hiroko, Kaiya and Kasumi were gathered outside of the city, away from the gates. There was nobody between them and the gats, and Kasumi appeared to be getting slightly impatient.

"When is the army going to get here?" She exclaimed to the other two, growling afterwards.

"Patience, Kasumi. I still have some strategical things to go over," Hiroko said, seemingly getting impatient with Kasumi. "Kaiya will use her ability to transport you and the army onto the satellite, surrounding the city we found but from a distance. They should not be able to see you easily from the actual city itself, unless one of them has a sight enhancing ability. Kasumi, you will use your familiars to create silent fly familiars that I will take control of and use to oversee the battle, along with the other three. Should there be a point we need back-up, I will say that. I'll also be able to tell you about the enemies abilities through this chip," She said, handing a chip over to Kasumi. "It will allow me to send messages to you, even through the distance it has to travel from Mars to this satellite. It will be transported through your thoughts, meaning you will know everything about any important opponents you may encounter. Use this to your advantage."

"I know, I know," Kasumi sighed, getting impatient more with Hiroko's long winded explanation whilst placing the chip in her ear.

"This is your first battle, Kasumi," Hiroko said, sighing. "I'm not expecting you to just simply win by yourself. If need be, i'll have Saiko, maybe even Kaiya transported there also. Try not to over exert yourself."

"Oh, the troops are beginning to form," Kasumi said, seemingly ignoring what Hiroko said, to which she simply sighed. "Those guys won't know what hit 'em."

"Well, you'd still do best to prepare for the worst," Kaiya said, waving her arm around. "You never know if they have some sort of technology to observe our city and see that we exist."

"Please, observe an invisible city?" Kasumi said, seemingly in an almost bragging nature. "That would be impossible, right Hiroko?"

Hiroko stayed silent for a few seconds, before shaking her head. "That Youkai of Boundaries found us, remember? Just because we're invisible to the eye doesn't mean we're complete undetectable."

Kasumi sighed, again, placing a heavy hand on Hiroko's smaller shoulder. "Listen, we'll get through this fine. If there is someone who's strong enough, then i'll snap into serious mode easily. You'll still be a great help during the battle."

Hiroko gently moved Kasumi's arm away from her shoulder. "I know I will," She smiled, bragging about herself, before turning to the troops. "Surround the city and attack it from all sides, but don't cause too much damage as we'll wish to use it for a base later on. I have already given my other orders to Kasumi. Now, Kaiya, if you'd please."

"Who made you the boss?" Kaiya joked, as her eyes began to glow a bright red.

"Better than anyone else, huh?" Hiroko joked, looking at Kaiya's eyes as Kasumi, and the entire Martian army, disappeared from the face of Mars.

Later on, on the moon's surface, a moon rabbit came bounding towards the army of other moon rabbits, seemingly in an urgent rush. "L-Lady Yorihime and Lady Toyohime! We've received sightings of enemies in all directions, moving in to surround the Lunar Capital!"

"What?" Yorihime asked in surprise, seemingly taken aback at how the army manages to surround them easily. "Toyohime, you take the north, i'll take the south. The army will move around in a complete circle to stop them from advancing or surrounding either of us."

"Right," Toyohime nodded, rushing off to the north with some moon rabbits running after her. Yorihime looked at the remaining moon rabbits as they formed a circle, moving outwards to combat the Martian army."

"How big is their army?" Yorihime asked the moon rabbit scout.

"Smaller than ours," The moon rabbit declared, slightly happier than she should have in war times.

Yorihime nodded, making her way quickly towards the south. A small, soundless fly familiar flew past her, noticed barely out of the corner of her eye, however she paid it no mind.

The fly made its way towards the Lunar Capital, before looking upwards to see a silver haired girl hovering above the Lunar Capital. Hiroko, who was using the familiar to scan the area, looked closely through the eyes of the fly.

"Sagume Kishin," She said. "Has the power to… reverse situations with her words."

"Reverse situations with her words?" Kaiya asked, tilting her head. "What does that mean?"

"I assume if she talks about something, the reverse of that thing will happen. That's bad for us… she could easily tip the scales in the Lunarians favour at any time and we won't be able to make it to her in time to stop her." Hiroko explained, sighing. "Kaiya, let's go find Saiko. Turns out we need back up there much sooner than we expected."

"R-Right!" Kaiya nodded, running quickly into the invisible city.

Meanwhile, in the border of Gensokyo, Yukari and Ran looked over the battle starting through one of Yukari's gaps. They both seemed serious and straight faced, without either talking for possibly minutes, before Ran finally perked up.

"Neither the Lunarians nor the Martians will abide by the Spell Card rules in this battle. You planned that, right?" Ran asked, to make sure of Yukari's plans. Yukari nodded.

"Yes, I knew that would be the case. But now, we should watch on and wait, hoping for a Lunarian victory to sprout from the labour of war," Yukari said, not moving her head to face Ran as she did so. "This is possibly the most serious battle yet for the Lunarians, and it holds equal importance to us. We do not wish for them to take the moon, after all."

Ran nodded, before looking back at the gap which they observed the battle through. "Hm?" she said, focusing on an area above the Lunar Capital. "What's that?"

"It appears the first decisive battle may be about to begin," Yukari said, closing her eyes.

Above the Lunar Capital, Saiko appeared behind Sagume Kishin, standing still as Sagume turned her head around, narrowing her eyes in surprise.

"You got here so quickly?" Sagume asked, tilting her head. Saiko closed her eyes and nodded, rubbing her thumb against her finger.

"Yes, indeed I did," Saiko said, opening her eyes again as she put her hands by her sides. "Minister of Chemicals, Saiko Kurosawa. My position here is to take care of anyone who may get in the way of our victory before it spirals out of control. Hope you don't mind."

 ***Spell Card!* Character Insight:**

 **Lord Tsukuyomi: Lord of the Lunar Capital and it's primary founder, along side the co-founder, Eirin Yagokoro. He has ruled the Lunar Capital since it's foundation, and serves as a powerful and respected ruler to the Lunarians.**

 **Watatsuki no Toyohime: Older sister of Watatsuki no Yorihime and the less serious of the two. Toyohime, along with her sister, is the captain of the Lunar defense force. She has the ability to manipulate the scientific and fantastical versions of the moon, as well as being one of the few characters able to travel freely between the moon and Gensokyo. She killed one of Yukari's crow familiars, Zenki, in the second Lunar War. She also holds a fan which is capable to tearing apart a forest on the atomic level.**

 **Watatsuki no Yorihime: Younger sister of Watatsuki no Toyohime and the more serious of the two. She is also the captain of the Lunar defense force. She has the ability to call upon gods to aid her in battle, which allows her to have a myriad of techniques, supposedly firmly inside the millions. As well as this, she has excellent swordsmanship skills. She was able to defeat four opponents in a spell card battle after only learning the rules minutes prior.**

 **Sagume Kishin: She is a Lunarian Goddess capable of reversing any situation with her words, allowing her to change the outcome that fate has in line for that particular situation by talking about it. She has one sole wing on her back, showing her to be partly a heavenly god.**

 **(Author's Note: I apologise about the constant scene switching towards the end of this chapter and that it may have been confusing. I have also not played Legacy of the Lunatic Kingdom and can not read Japanese, nor could I find an English source, so I do not have a baseline to work from with Sagume Kishin's personality. I apologise.)**


	4. The battle above the Lunar Capital!

**(Author's Note: When I say 'Amulets', I am referring to the rectangular shaped bullets seen in the games. I believe that is their official name (I heard it from somewhere), but i'm not certain. Figured it best to notify that before the chapter.)**

"Us people from Mars see you as a threat, so I came here to deal with you," Saiko said, moving her foot behind her as if she were getting ready to rush in. "Hope you don't mind."

Saiko dashed towards Sagume, giving her hardly any time to react as she reached her arm up to her face. Sagume dodged to left, moving around her and backing away quickly, avoiding being touched.

' _She's fast,'_ Sagume thought to herself, as Saiko remained still, turning around the face her. ' _She rushed in with her hand out. Her ability is likely touched based, so i'd do well to stay away from her.'_

"Hm, it's been a while since someone reacted to my attack," Saiko said, a smile emerging on her face. "This might be fun. I'll give you this, satellite dweller, you seem like the type to entertain me."

Sagume didn't responding, choosing instead to summon a mixture of red and blue yin-yang orbs, each firing amulets of their respective colour, in a crisscross pattern aimed at Saiko. Saiko moved upwards to avoid them, as they simply followed her movement upwards.

"Tch. Rather basic," Saiko sighed, as she rushed in again in an attempt to touch Sagume. However, the Yin-Yang orbs from behind her moved upwards, preventing Saiko's attack as she had to dodge further away. Sagume also stayed further away, summoning more Yin-Yang orbs in order to apply pressure upon Saiko.

Moon rabbits that were moving out to confront the Martian army looked up to see the bullet patterns, as well as two figures moving around, with one occasionally attempting to move in, but ultimately failing. Yorihime also noticed this happening, looking at the battle above the Lunar Capital.

"They reached her that quickly?" She asked herself, before shaking her head. "No, they must have something like that Youkai of Boundaries ability to transport them there. Even so, how did they know she was there?" Yorihime eventually shook these questions off, placing hope in Sagume's ability that she would reverse the situation if it got dire.

"You know," Saiko said, dodging between the bullets as they began to get more dense around her, too dense to be able to move upwards, downwards, or towards Sagume with any movement. "Dodging all this is really boring. Looks like i'm forced to play the range game, huh?"

As she said that, Saiko summoned regular bullets above, below, and to both sides of her, which soon transformed further into lasers, locking on to different Yin-Yang orbs and shooting straight towards them, obliterating them in one hit. She continued this, as well as some dodging and aiming some lasers at Sagume herself rather than the Yin-Yang orbs, which the Lunarian simply dodged herself, until all Yin-Yang orbs were gone for that moment in time.

"Sparing with Kasumi gave me all the practice I need to deal with bullets from familiars like that," Saiko said, as she eventually halted her assault. "Though, it was rather fun dodging all that. What's your name, satellite dweller?"

"Sagume Kishin," Sagume replied, moving further away from Saiko. "Orb Sign, 'Disorderly Flock's Duplex Curse'."

A wave of red Yin-Yang orbs began making it's way towards Saiko, followed by a wave of blue Yin-Yang orbs. Both sets of Yin-Yang orbs had amulets trailing behind them, as they soon targeted themselves directly at Saiko. Saiko dodged, however found herself being followed closely by more amulets as they continued to be summoned. More Yin-Yang orbs were summoned, closing in at different directions as amulets slowly began to circle around Saiko, heavily limiting her movement and making it hard for her to escape.

"'Chlorine Trifluoride Ablaze'." Saiko said, as a pale, greenish yellow liquid was summoned around her, shooting out and coating the amulets that were closing in to surround her. Following that was a wave of fire followed it. The amulets erupted into flames, burning them within nanoseconds to nothingness. This was followed up with a coating on the Yin-Yang orbs, also followed by flames that burnt them instantly also. Another wave of the liquid was fired out, with some directed at Sagume. Sagume dodged most of it, but found a little bit of it wet part of her sleeve. Thankfully, she successfully dodged the round of fire following it, avoiding serious burns.

(Note: Chlorine Trifluoride is the most flammable liquid known today.)

"You give your special attacks names too?" Saiko asked, seemingly a little surprised of that fact. "It seems we have more in common than I first thought."

"Perhaps," Sagume answered, before summoning more Yin-Yang orbs in a circle around her. This time, however, those orbs fired their amulets towards Sagume, as they circled around her and eventually fired outwards in a circular pattern, with some more amulets targeting Saiko from either side. Saiko dodged through them, dodging the bullets targeted at her until one amulet managed to scrape her side, cutting through her clothes and causing a cut to appear on her body, which dripped blood down onto the Lunar Capital. Some more amulets closely came to her, slicing parts of her sleeves, and some cutting down into her arm.

"Alright, that's quite enough," Saiko said, seemingly a little annoyed at the preceding. With a swipe of her hand, lasers appeared a points on her swipe, with bullets appearing between them. They were fired out towards Sagume's patterns, colliding with her bullets with the lasers penetrating straight through them. Sagume dodged some of the lasers and bullets as they continued coming in denser patterns, the Yin-Yang orbs moving outwards to connect with some bullets and neutralise them. Sagume found herself at the upper hand in this duel, however, as only received a slight cut to the leg from one of the lasers fired out before changing her method of attack.

' _As long as I have the upper hand, there's no need to use my ability,'_ Sagume thought to herself, before announcing the name of her next attack. "Orb Sign, 'Impure Body Detection Mines V2'."

"Then where's V1?" Saiko asked, as she too halted her onslaught of lasers and bullets. A snake like structure of Yin Yang orbs emerged, moving around Saiko as they generated small mines behind them, which eventually exploded into bullets. The snake like structure wrapped closely around Saiko, limiting her dodging movement. Saiko attempted to use her first attack, firing lasers at the Yin-Yang orbs in an attempt to destroy them. However, her attempt failed. "Oh?" She asked, surprised by the result as she felt one of the bullets hit her in the shoulder, as another one hit her on the chest while she was distracted.

Then, amulets began to home in on Saiko as well, severely limiting her window to dodge. "Damn it," Saiko said, gritting her teeth. "I'm not used to your style of fighting. Whatever, 'Germ Ridden Knives'." She said, as she began shoot knives around her, connecting a neutralising with the bullets and piercing through the cards, allowing her to dodge with more open space around her. One of the knives hit one of the Yin-Yang orbs, which Saiko quickly picked up on and, with a snap of her fingers, the orb was disintegrated. Saiko used this opportunity to escape the snake trap, brandishing another knife in between her index and middle finger as she threw it at Sagume with incredible speed and accuracy. Sagume attempted to dodge the knife, however it sliced her on the arm.

"Damn, not enough," Saiko muttered to herself, as she used her blinding speed to get behind Sagume and throw another knife, as Sagume had to dodge the rest of the knives coming out of the now destroyed snake structure. She managed to dodge them all, coming out unscathed other than the cut on her leg, which she winced slightly at. "Hm, so you _are_ fun after all," Saiko smiled, as she brandished another knife in her hand. "You seem to be able to keep up and dodge even though I can travel much faster than light."

Sagume chose not to respond to Saiko's words, and instead chose to summon more Yin-Yang orbs in a circular pattern around her. The amulets fired were denser this time, and in a slightly different pattern. Saiko sighed, raising her finger and firing knives at each Yin-Yang orb, dodging the shots already fired and managing to destroy each orb after they appeared and before they managed to shoot out any more amulets.

"Honestly, this whole charade with your circular patterns is getting incredibly boring, I want more of the challenging stuff, you know? Show me more of those special attacks you have." Saiko said, smiling.

"Saiko," Hiroko's voice came through the chip that Saiko had in her ear. "You're not there to have fun with your opponent. Take it seriously and defeat her already."

"Be quiet, Hiroko," Saiko said, sighing as Sagume seemed confused as the Saiko's talking. "It's been so long since I fought anyone away from Mars. I'm trying to enjoy it and savour the battle, alright?"

"I understand that, but please, try and finish it quickly," Hiroko sighed through the chip, which Saiko sighed at.

"Sorry, friend," Saiko said, towards Sagume. "Orders are I have to finish this quickly. So hurry up with your attacks so I can see what you Lunarians are all about."

Sagume closed her eyes and nodded. ' _She's acting like she's been toying with me the whole time. That being said, she's more damaged than I am.'_ Sagume thought to herself, before biting her lip. "You know, this battle has gone on longer than I expected."

"Same goes for me," Saiko said, waving a knife around in her hand. "I never expected you to be fast enough to dodge my opening attempt."

"You are quite powerful, probably stronger than I am," Sagume said, smiling.

"Saiko!" Hiroko's voice shouted through the ear chip. "She's using her ability to make change the tide of battle so she wins! Hurry up and take care of her!"

"Ow," Saiko muttered to herself, after hearing Hiroko's voice. "Well, it has been fun, Sagume Kishin. Looks like I can't stay around to chat any time longer." Saiko then threw her knife towards Sagume, which Sagume dodged upwards away from. Saiko then moved quickly into the direction Sagume moved, before she was able to move away from that position. She rushed in, gliding past Sagume as her finger-tip scraped past her neck.

"Looks like that's it," Saiko said, stopping herself mid-air. "With that power of yours activating just then, it looks like if you kept going as it were you might of won."

"What?" Sagume asked, moving her hand to the back of her neck, before sighing. "Well, perhaps."

Saiko smiled, raising her fingers in a clicking formation as she clicked them, causing Sagume to pass out mid-air, falling downwards towards the ground. Saiko rushed in and caught her as she fell.

"Hey, Hiroko," Saiko said, looking over to her ear. "If she didn't use her ability, do you think she would have won?"

"Maybe your habit of messing around with your opponents before getting serious would have had you fall victim to her 'Ultimate Attack'," Hiroko responded through the ear chip. "Who knows if that was enough to talk to cause its activation, though. Bring her back here, we can't have someone with an ability such as that roaming around freely on the enemies side."

"Already on it," Saiko said, looking down at the girl she had caught in her hands. "Toying around, huh?" She whispered to herself. "You made me use my strongest special attack, as well as succeeded at keeping me at a distance. There's no way I could of let myself go easy on you. Adapting to your way of using those orbs over Kasumi's was difficult, too. That was fun, satellite dweller, perhaps on Mars we can spar a few times." Upon whispering that to herself, Kaiya's powers transported her and Sagume back to Mars.

Meanwhile, south of the Lunar Capital, Yorihime reached the Martian army, as did the rest of the moon rabbits in the circle around the Lunar Capital. The Martians and Moon rabbits engaged in their danmaku duel, as Yorihime helped on the front lines by cutting through the Martian army.

"Hey, you," Kasumi said, catching Yorihime's attention as she looked over to the girl behind the Martian army. "You seem a lot stronger than the others, and you're not some sort of rabbit girl. Are you, perhaps, the leader of this defense force?"

"Perhaps I am," Yorihime said, standing up straight with her sword in her right hand to the side of her. "Why, do you happen to be leading this attack?"

"Indeed I am," Kasumi smiled, as she unsheathed her sword which hung beside her hip also. "What's your name? It's only right for two important warriors to share names before a battle."

"Watatsuki no Yorihime," Yorihime answered, as she looked slightly more seriously at Kasumi.

"Kasumi Tadeyuki," Kasumi answered, as a silent fly familiar flew up next to her.

"Watatsuki no Yorihime is one of the two captains of the 'Lunar defense force', along with her sister. She was trained by some sort of sage called 'Eirin Yagokoro' and…" Hiroko cut herself off with a scared sounding gasp. "She… has the ability to summon gods…"

"Huh!?" Kasumi exclaimed as her face also turned to one of a mix between surprise and slight fear.

"Be careful, Kasumi," Hiroko said, her tone sounding much more serious than it usually is. "She's incredibly dangerous. Don't take this lightly."

"Well, enough with that talk," Yorihime said, raising her sword to point it at Kasumi. "Let it begin."

 ***Spell Card!* World Insight!**

 **According to the book 'History of the Invisible City':**

 **The invisible Mars city was founded by the leader of it, however their name and gender are both unknown, and must remain that way to everyone outside of their closest companion, Hiroko Amagai. The city remains invisible through any normal means due to the powers of this leader, however the exact details of such power is ambiguous. That is all that is known about the leader of the Mars City to everybody other than the Minister of Intelligence.**


	5. A battle of blades! Kasumi vs Yorihime!

Yorihime raised her sword up, which was blocked by Kasumi's sword, as she pushed Yorihime away and attempted to strike again, as they both clashed with each other. Kasumi gritted her teeth, as she seemed agitated. Yorihime picked up on this, tilting her head slightly before bringing her sword beneath Kasumi's, moving her hand and swiping across, forcing Kasumi to jump away, which she did twice.

Kasumi sliced her sword diagonally upwards, as a laser-like shot followed it, appearing as the sword strike was extended in the form of a laser. Yorihime simply raised her sword, as the laser as cut in half and moved went to both sides of Yorihime. Kasumi did the same trick again, which Yorihime cut in half again, before looking behind her to see the lasers had materialised into bullets, and were moving quickly towards her. Yorihime sighed, jumping into the air to avoid the bullets going towards her, before turning around and slicing a new laser that was heading towards her in half again. Kasumi jumped upwards, cutting down which Yorihime blocked. However, she found herself forced down towards the ground as a laser pushed her downwards, which she cut in half and quickly stepped away from all the bullets coming towards her.

"What's wrong?" Yorihime asked, bringing her sword down to her side. "You seemed confident in your ability before, and now you appear much more agitated."

"I'm fine!" Kasumi replied quickly, exclaiming as she came back down towards the ground. "I'm just getting warmed up."

"Good," Yorihime sighed, placing her free hand on her hip. "If you are the leader of this force, i'd be disappointed if that was how strong you Martian's really were."

"Tch," Kasumi said, raising her sword in the air. "'Wind of Piercing Knives'!" she said, as from the tip of her sword a strong wind began to emerge, blowing around the area and distracting both the Martian army and Lunarian army from the strong winds. Yorihime raised her arm to fight the winds as hard as she could, as her dress blew against her legs. From the tip of Kasumi's sword, knives began to emerge and follow in the wind, like leaves in the wind.

"Lord Fujin," Yorihime smiled, raising her sword as a sort of spirit descended to her body. As it did, strong winds also were emitted from her, blowing straight towards Kasumi and taking the knives from Kasumi's own attack with them. Kasumi was swept off her feet, rolling backwards as the knives flew past her, some of them grazing her and leaving a few marks. After the wind dissipated, Kasumi was lying on the ground, with her arms on the floor and her head up, whereas Yorihime was standing with her sword in the ground.

"Looks like we evaded your knives hitting anyone on our side or yours," Yorihime said, looking over to the two armies before sighing. Both armies were lined up together, watching the fight between Yorihime and Kasumi take place. "Stopping in the middle of war? Are both of our armies really that inefficient?"

"You…" Kasumi said, standing up as her long red hair hung below her eyes and was, in general, messed up from the wind. "You don't know how long I spent perfecting that attack!"

"Is that… really the issue here?" Yorihime asked, tilting her head on her arms as she looked at the Martian leader move her hair away from her eyes. "I wouldn't exactly call that attack 'perfect' considering it was beaten that easily."

"Grh," Kasumi said, charging towards Yorihime with her sword raised up. Yorihime sighed, not moving her sword from its placement within the ground.

"Lord Gion," She said, as her sword sunk into the ground and many blades appeared around Kasumi's legs, going up to her hips. This easily halted her advance as Kasumi was left standing still. "I'll ask again, what's wrong? After talking about your power like that and now you seem so agitated."

"Nothing's wrong!" Kasumi declared, breathing slightly heavier. "I just get more flared up when a fight begins, that's all."

"Uh-huh," Yorihime nodded, seemingly not believing her statement at all. "I've trained hard for a long time, and I also have the ability to call gods down into my body to borrow their power. If you're so agitated about that, there's your explanation."

"I-I know that…" Kasumi muttered, which Yorihime narrowed her right eye slightly at.

"Oh? How did you know?" She asked, looking around. "Was it that small fly thing I saw fly past me on the way here? What kind of special powers are you hiding?"

"You saw one?" Kasumi asked, surprised. "But… but they're meant to be almost invisible! Well… whatever. How about I show you my powers now?"

"I'd be disappointed if you didn't," Yorihime smiled, watching Kasumi more closely to see what she did. Kasumi raised her sword once again, as swords were summoned all around Yorihime, taking her by surprise as she lifted her sword out of the ground. As she did, Lord Gion's power disappeared and Kasumi was set free.

"You'll need more than just strong winds to block an attack from all directions!" Kasumi exclaimed, pointing her sword forward triumphantly. "It's over, god summoner! There's no way you'll be able to avoid damage from these weapons!"

"Lord Kamayama-hiko," Yorihime said, looking at Kasumi through the gaps in the swords. "Turn these irritating flies surrounding me into sand," as she said that, the swords that surrounded her did, indeed, turn into sand and fall onto the floor.

"What!?" Kasumi exclaimed, staggering backwards in surprise.

Yorihime smiled, raising her own sword to point at Kasumi. "And now, return to whom you originated from," as she said that, the sand around her raised up to around the Yorihime's blade tip, as they materialised once again into swords, this time directing straight towards Kasumi.

Kasumi, faced with the danger of all these swords flying towards her, smiled in return. "Not so fast!" She said, raising her arm upwards as the swords flew upwards, following her arm's directions. They scattered from around Yorihime, above her and closed in once again.

Yorihime quickly jumped to the side, her feat submerging into the water of the sea they were fighting near. The swords all stabbed down into the ground, bringing up moon dust as they did.

"My ability might not be as flashy as summoning gods," Kasumi smiled, tilting her head. "But I can summon familiars at will and control them how I want. Those swords were summoned by me and I get to control them, even despite your little sand trick there. Familiars are more than just animals, you know? In fact, my mastery of this ability has extended to where I can bring anything I like into this world as my familiar."

"Interesting," Yorihime smiled, keeping her sword in a ready position in case Kasumi's familiar swords attempted to strike her. "'Anything', you say? I'm certain that include gods, or galaxies, or planets or even other moons like ours. If that were the case you'd simply of threatened our Lunar Capital with the possibility of another moon destroying it, right?"

Kasumi lowered her sword, closing her eyes and adopting a more serious face. "Perhaps. But for all the purposes I need them for, there's nothing else I need be able to summon."

"Well, how about this," Yorihime smiled, raising her sword again. "Lord Takemikazuchi," She said, as many swords of her own began to appear around her, pointing towards Kasumi as well as Kasumi's swords that were stuck in the ground. "The god of swords versus your own swords. Fighting fire with fire once again."

Kasumi gritted her teeth, as she summoned more swords and raised the swords already in the ground and fired them at Yorihime. Yorihime answered in kind, as she had the swords surrounding her push outwards and meet the swords aimed at her, clashing together as they neutralised and disappeared. Both Yorihime and Kasumi stood still as these proceedings took place, until after it finished and one sword flew straight as Kasumi's face, which she dodged by moving her head and only received a cut to the cheek.

"Looks like I win," Yorihime said, raising her hand as she pointed her sword towards Kasumi. "Any more tricks? I'd like to learn as much about you Martians as possible. I believe that to be the best thing to do in this situation."

"I…" Kasumi began, gulping into her throat as she breathed heavily. "I… I give up!" she exclaimed, falling down onto her knees in defeat.

"Huh?" Yorihime asked, tilting her head onto her shoulder at Kasumi's reaction. "Seriously? Or is this some other kind of trick?"

"There's no way I can beat you…" Kasumi admitted, looking down to the floor as she bit her lip. "Even after all my training i'm still weaker than you people on this satellite. No matter what I try, your ability seems like it will always be able to beat mine in a straight contest. So… I give up. You win."

"Well, that's rather surprising," Yorihime said, waving her sword around as she walked towards Kasumi. "If the leader of the offense gave up, doesn't that mean your entire army surrenders to us?"

"Not quite," Kasumi smiled, looking up to Yorihime. "We'll send more people here that will be able to win this war for us, trust me. I'm not the only head of this operation. After all, I saw another one of us above your little capital fighting someone else. Now, Hiroko, have Kaiya bring me back." Kasumi said, standing up. However, nothing happened. "Huh? H-Hiroko? Hello? Kaiya?"

"Who are you talking to?" Yorihime asked, confused as to what Kasumi was doing.

"A-ah! Kasumi, i'm sorry," Yorimi replied through the chip. "Erm, Hiroko and Kaiya are both busy right now so I was put in charge of talking to everyone through the chips. Looks like i'm the only one spare right now."

Kasumi looked surprised, before laughing slightly to herself. "So, the others are already here. Looks like you satellite dwellers are really putting up a hard fight against us, huh?"

Yorihime sighed, raising her sword up to Kasumi's neck. "You're being placed under arrest by the captain of the Lunar Defense Force. Any attempt to use your ability will be responded to in kind."

Meanwhile, in the north of the fighting area, Toyohime held her fan in front of her face, seemingly disappointed with what was happening down on the ground. "Did Yorihime really manage to fight the mastermind behind all this? How lucky of her."

Toyohime sighed, turning flying through the air towards the fighting and watching it more up close. "These Martian people really aren't much to cry home about. Hopefully their mastermind would show up and make this a little more fun."

"Did someone call for me?" A voice said behind Toyohime, as Kaiya appeared behind her and walked slightly forward. "It seems our previous leader of the operation gave up against someone she was fighting down in the south. You're that god summoner's sister, correct? I figured if we can't win down south then we should attempt to win up north instead."

"Oh, excellent timing," Toyohime said, spinning around as she waved her fan in front of her face. "I am Watatsuki no Toyohime, leader of the Lunar Defense Force along with my sister. Looks like good luck shined on me and I got to fight the stronger one."

"Minister of Discovery for the Martian City, Kaiya Amari. Saiko beat the girl you had above your capital, Sagume Kishin, I believe her name was, and Kasumi lost to your sister. I'm not much of a seasoned fighter as the two of them are, so my apologies if I disappoint you at all."

"Minister?" Toyohime asked, still waving her fan in front of her face. "Well, that would still put you pretty high ranking. But your not much of a seasoned fighter, you said? What a shame, just when I thought things might have turned up for me."

"I'm not much of the seasoned fighter in terms of offense against enemies, that's simply not my job," Kaiya said, smiling as she placed a hand in her jacket pocket. "However, offense isn't the only portion of a fight that matters. Of course, abilities, speed and defense make up a fair portion of one's ability to fight, which i'm afraid Kasumi neglects quite a lot during her fighting."

"So, you might still be fun for me to fight?" Toyohime smiled, bringing her fan down from her face and to her side. "Well, that's good. Just when things really were starting to look unbearably boring for me over here. Let's see what you have, Kaiya Amari."

"I promise I won't take you lightly," Kaiya said, taking one hand out of her pocket. "If you're anything like your sister, I couldn't afford to make such a mistake. Now, you strike first. As I said, offense isn't my forte."

 ***Spell Card!* World Insight!**

 **According to the Martian's book of history on the Invisible City:**

 **It is unknown of the origins of the Invisible City, as in when the city came to be on the planet known as Mars, or for what purpose the founder created it for. There are, however, theories sparking around the Martian's such as 'The creator was bored one day', or 'Maybe this was a place the creator took over and now calls home'. Both of these theories serve as a fun brain exercise for the Martians to think over, but only the creator truly knows the cities origins.**

 **Another thing that is unknown and widely debated is Hiroko Amagai's relation to the creator of the city. Many have seen it as suspicious that her, and only her has ever been able to speak to, or even send anything to the creator of the Invisible City. Many think that Hiroko is a co-founder of the Invisible City, and due to that fact the two of them are close friends and like to stay in touch, while the creator value's his or her privacy. Some even think they are related by blood, but Hiroko Amagai herself has openly disagreed with this statement in public and advises not to think of them in that way, but rather as 'Old Acquaintances'. Nothing else has ever been revealed about their relationship.**


	6. Battle of Counters! The Martian Secret?

"Very well," Toyohime smiled, closing her fan and raising her hand. "Let's see how you counter this," as she said that, Toyohime used her ability of manipulating the boundary between the fantastical and scientific sides of the moon, sending Kaiya to the airless scientific side.

Kaiya instantly sprung into action, holding what air she could carry from the fantastical version of the moon into her lungs and covering her mouth, closing her eyes as she attempted to picture a place in her mind. ' _Simple trick…'_ she thought to herself, as her lungs slowly began to lose the oxygen she had preserved from the fantastical side of the moon.

Toyohime opened her fan over her mouth, sighing as she did so. "Appears she didn't have enough in her to be able to combat me," She said leaning her head on her shoulder. "What a shame -" suddenly, she was cut off by a tap on the shoulder, as Kaiya floated behind her with a smile on her face.

"Sorry to shock you," She said, taking her distance away from her with a few jumps. "You sent me over to an airless version of the moon, correct? Well, our Mars also has such a side to it that people can't usually breathe whilst on the surface. Apparently out leader created a split dimension where Mars has an airless side, and where it does not. Hiroko managed to learn to switch those two sides at will outside of the invisible city, one second it could be breathable, one second you'd die within seconds. The invisible city itself doesn't change, however." Kaiya said, before pausing and covering her mouth. "Oh, I apologise. I'm going on a little rant, aren't I? Well, Hiroko trained me to use my ability across those two dimensions by swapping them on the outside."

"I see," Toyohime said, lowering her fan to the side of her body. "Well, that's a rather interesting story of yours. However, may I ask what this ability of yours is?"

"Oh, simple teleportation," Kaiya said, shrugging as she did so. "However, I can link my ability to other people."

"Link your ability to other people?" Toyohime smiled, raising her head higher. "So you're the one behind the Martian's suddenly appearing on the moon without any prior signs of their approach?"

"Martians, is that what you call us?" Kaiya asked, curious as to how that name came into happening. "What a weird name. We simply call you guys 'Satellite Dwellers'."

"Everyone else calls us 'Lunarians'." Toyohime said, raising her fan over her mouth. "I'm not certain myself how that name came into being."

"Well, appears we've both been dubbed strange names," Kaiya said, biting the corner of her lip slightly. "Looks like we have some things in common."

"Perhaps," Toyohime smiled behind her fan, before raising it into the air. "But i'm afraid our chat has to end somewhere, Martian. Now, i'm afraid it's time to say goodbye." She said, as she began to lower her fan down. However, before she could completely lower it in a full motion, the fan disappeared from out of her hand, preventing whatever attack Toyohime may have been attempting. Kaiya held the fan in her hand, twirling it around in her fingers as she looked at it questioningly.

"We don't have these kinds of objects on Mars," She said, opening and closing the fan in a motion to try to understand how it operated. "Perhaps we live too far out in space to create such objects, despite us being the neighbouring planet."

Toyohime 'stood' still in the air, bringing her arm to the side of her and she stared down on Kaiya, who was playing with her fan in her hand. "How did you get that from me?"

"Oh, forgive me, I may have partly lied about my ability earlier," Kaiya said, opening the fan and waving it on her face as her hair blew slightly from the resulting wind. "Ah, that does feel quite refreshing. Oh, my apologies. Anyway, to elaborate more on my ability, I can warp absolutely anything to anywhere else in space. I could even send you to an airless vacuum in the middle of nowhere, if that was as I so pleased. Or even warp one of our twin satellites to your satellite, and cause them both to crash into each other and wipe out your entire population. Although, I am beginning to like you."

"Beginning to like me?" Toyohime asked, as her faced appeared a slight bit more flustered, before correcting itself to its normal colour. "Well, that is quite the scary ability. Why did you not attempt to throw me in the middle of a vacuum, if you claim to be able to do such a thing?"

Kaiya smiled, before copying what Toyohime does with her fan and moving it over her mouth. "We're gathering data on you 'Lunarians' as well as whoever may be on that rock down there, of course. We're trying to build an empire across space for our master here, and an empire is no good if everyone's dead, now is it?"

"Well, you do raise a fair point," Toyohime said, tilting her head to her side. "And it does appear I may have gotten unlucky with my opponent. It appears you have every way to be able to counter my skills."

"Oh, don't feel bad, Toyohime," Kaiya said, moving the fan away from her face with a more straight face. "We all get unlucky once in a while. Your still much stronger than me in a fight though. I've only ever trained in using my ability, rarely ever in anything else. I never needed to, nor predicted I would ever meet anyone so strong on the battlefield."

"I'm honored, Kaiya," Toyohime smiled, opening her hand out towards Kaiya. "Now, could I perhaps have my fan back?"

"Not right now, i'm sorry," Kaiya said, opening and closing the fan as she continued to look at it. "It appears your attack was based upon this fan here. Unfortunately Hiroko isn't with us right now so I have no idea what your weapon is about. Perhaps you could tell me what this is?"

Toyohime sighed, holding the edge of her hat as she pulled it down to the front of her head. "That fan has the ability to purify a large bamboo forest on an atomic level. Now, may I have my fan back? It appears it is useless to attempt to use it against the likes of your ability, however."

Kaiya nodded, throwing the fan into the air as she teleported it into Toyohime's hand, which she gripped opened herself, narrowing her eyes. "So, what is it that you want with the moon here?"

"The Martian leader wishes for us to begin conquering for a space empire. I have no idea why, however. I may be one of the highest ranks in the Martian army, even among the ministers. Third highest rank in the entire Martian army, in fact, only behind Hiroko and the leader. But it appears only the leader, and maybe Hiroko really understands what the leader wants," Kaiya sighed.

"Ah, I see," Toyohime said, raising her eyebrows questioningly. "Who is this leader of yours, by the way?"

Kaiya shrugged, shaking her head as she did. "I'm afraid I don't know the answer to that. They're quite secretive about that information, or any information. Though, I have a request for you, Toyohime."

"Oh, and what's that?" Toyohime asked, tilting her head to the side.

"It appears both of our forces stopped fighting," Kaiya smiled, pointing down towards the battle beneath as both the Lunarian moon rabbits and the Martian army had paused their fighting to listen in to the conversation between the two of them. "Could you please halt the fighting here and get along for now? Your sister has already gained the upper hand in the south and i'd much rather have us stop this fighting. Especially since it appears the end may be in sight, even without our interference. However, i'll be the one to keep you from interfering with Hiroko's plans."

"What do you mean?" Toyohime asked, opening her eyes in surprise as she looked behind Kaiya, towards the lunar capital.

"We'll have to both see, won't we?" Kaiya said, also seemingly becoming a little more serious in her facial expression also.

Whilst Toyohime and Kaiya were speaking to each other, Hiroko was in the invisible city, walking up to a large door. She breathed in heavily, opening the door as it creaked open. Inside was a long corridor, and at the end, a girl was on her knees, locked in handcuffs that appeared to be imbued with magical power. Her eyes were closed, as her head was hung low.

"Good… it appears you're asleep," Hiroko whispered to herself, walking slowly through the corridor as she stopped in the middle. She stared at the girl at the end, her heart feeling heavy and arms feeling weak by her side. She turned her head towards a deck of cards hung on the wall, taking it off and opening it. Inside were cards imbued with magical power. She felt the top card in her hand, rubbing her thumb and finger against them, before looking up towards the girl in the cuffs.

Above the girl were two weapons, one appeared to be a spear with a ribbon hanging from the bottom of the tip, and the other appeared to be a sword, with a blue ribbon contrasting to the spear's red ribbon, hanging from the top of the handle. "Well, I hope you have a nice day. I'll come to visit you with the news once this is all done. I hope I can cheer you up with it."

With that, Hiroko turned her back on the girl, deck of cards in hand, and closed the large door behind her. She stayed still on the other end of the door for a moment, closing her eyes and muttering what could be amounted to a prayer to herself, before looking upwards and pressing a button on the chip within her ear. "Kaiya, I have what I need. Warp me to inside the Lunar Capital, near the palace."

"Understood," Kaiya's voice said through the chip, as Hiroko was warped to the palace, turning her head towards the doors immediately as she was and pushing them open, stepping through and looking forwards. She stopped at one end of a large hall, looking towards the other end as Lord Tsukuyomi sat on his throne.

"I hope you've not forgotten me, Lord Tsukuyomi," Hiroko said, fanning her cards out and closing her eyes. "It's been quite a while, hasn't it? I apologise for the sudden intrusion, but I trust you understand why these actions must have been taken."

Tsukuyomi stood up from his throne as he walked towards Hiroko. "Yes, I understand," He said, as he took a large sword from beside him. "It was not a matter of if you would attempt to gain land, it was only a matter of when you would attempt to. How is she doing, by the way?"

"She's doing as well as one could hope a girl who has been locked up for millions of years could be doing," Hiroko said, looking down as she brought her cards back into a stack formation. "You must defend the Lunar Capital with everything you have, as it's lord. And I have to fight for the Invisible Martian city as hard as I possibly can. It is a shame that the first time we meet in these millions of years is in battle, isn't it?"

"Indeed it is," Tsukuyomi said, raising his sword in a battle stance. "Perhaps, when this is over, we can discuss what has happened over this extensive period of time over a drink."

"Yes, that would be nice," Hiroko said, smiling as she too assumed a sort of battle formation. "I'm sure she would be happy to see you too. But, I can't have you running around the Martian City if this battle does sway in my favour. I'm sure you understand that, right?"

"Yes," Tsukuyomi said, closing his eyes as he walked closer to Hiroko. "Now, let us do battle. To see who's ambition is stronger, mine to protect the Lunar Capital, or yours to fight for the rights of the one you hold most dearly."

 ***Spell Card!* World Insight!**

 **According to the Martian's Book of History on the Invisible City:**

 **The two moons orbiting Mars act to sustain the powers in the Martian city, and is likely the reason why the city constantly remains invisible. As well as this, these two moons have constructs of magical power on them, which seem to focus on the Invisible City, providing magical power to the city. It is unknown to the citizens what this magical power is exactly used for, outside of the assumption that it may be one of the reasons why the city remains invisible, if not the single reason as to why it is so. However, if the magical constructs upon these moons are the only reason as to why it remains invisible, Martian's have realised that, beyond its creation some time ago, the leader of the city plays no role in sustaining or creating anything related to the city.**


	7. The Battle Ends! Who is The Creator?

_Flashback:_

 _In the beginning, there was nothing. Nothing existed, there was no planets, no satellites, no galaxies. There was, however, life. One life. A girl, floating in the nothingness with a spear boasting a red ribbon, and a sword boasting a blue ribbon. A remnant of something else, something much bigger, that girl was. A land inhabited only by gods, which was eventually erased completely by this girl's powers._

 _Her weapons, the sword of creation and the spear of erasure, were, in this land of gods, used very little, and for the spear, not at all. The girl was forbidden to use the destructive weapon in fear that it may bring about their eventual demise. They tried to destroy it, tried to get rid of it and throw it away into nothing, but nothing worked. Not even the spear's own power of complete annihilation could annihilate itself._

 _The girl eventually used the spear to erase that world, bored and fed up of being considered one of the weakest gods due to her inability to use her greatest power. She stayed in the nothingness for no time at all, quickly scrambling to create a new universe from a large explosion from her sword, which the later life in this universe would come to know as the 'Big Bang'._

 _Months passed until she eventually created life, a sister to accompany her across the great expanse of this universe she had created. This sister was blessed with unfathomable intelligence due to her existence close to the start of everything, and her ability to easily learn everything led her to eventually surpass her own creator in intellect, as she found out what everything was made of, gave them names and theorised exactly what they were, as the creator did not know what was waiting for her after this large explosion._

 _The sister decided that many planets were not suitable for life, as it was what the creator had envisioned for this universe. The two of them searched for the perfect, natural solar system, containing the perfect and natural planet for this life to inhabit. They named the planet Earth, the third planet away from a star they named the 'Sun', creating small micro-organisms that would eventually become humanoids._

 _The creator began to get infatuated by power once again, creating gods to do her duties for her as she served as the leader of them all. After creating these gods, she left to search for more solar systems in more galaxies that could contain more planets for life to inhabit. However, any planet she deemed unfit to be in her 'perfect universe' was erased from existence, as she left only the planets she found interesting. She did find more planets to place more life onto, which would eventually be known by the humanoids of Earth as 'aliens'._

 _The creator returned to Earth, pleased with it being the first planet she inhabited with life and the planet she would be most closely infatuated with. However, the gods she had created were displeased. Displeased with her constant erasure of planets and, in their eyes, ruining the natural universe she so longed for. Her infatuation shifted towards creating life, and not in preserving the natural universe that she had prided herself upon._

 _One day, however, she was displeased with a planet she had inhabited with life. The sister reports that the life was beginning to lose faith in the creator, as they were living in poor conditions when they used to live happily. 'If the creator is so strong, why do they not just bring us back what we want!' they would exclaim. The creator eventually erased this planet, too, as well as all life on it._

 _This triggered the gods, and even the sister, to be angered by the sudden erasure of something as amazing, in their eyes, as life. The two weapons were taken by the sister, placed on Mars within a large prison cell that she had concealed through her own magical power. She created two magical supplies on the two moons of Mars, that were to exploit the creator's weakness while she was without her weapons. The sister led her into the cell, before the magic overpowered the creator's own ability to fight it, and she jailed within the cage by two magical chains, that ate away at her power and prevented her escape._

 _Eventually, the sister felt bad for what she did, creating a city, which she kept invisible thanks to her own magical power, around the cell for life to live around it. She knew she could never let the creator free, and that she could never bring the weapons out of the cage where they were hung up, out of the creator's reach. The Martian city stayed silent after it's creation, slowly building up with more people the sister and the gods migrated from other planets, and more places for them to live. The sister created the city for the creator to be at peace around the life that the sister would inform her about, and how they went on. She had no intention of taking any planets, and only to stay silent for the story to be lost to time._

 _And with the story, the names 'Nuwa Amagai' and 'Hiroko Amagai' were forgotten to all but the gods._

 _Flashback End_

"What is it that you want here?" Tsukuyomi said, as he was surrounded by lasers that were being emitted by cards that were placed on the ground around him and on the walls around him. Hiroko sighed, looking down to her feet.

"Forgive me, it was not my decision to come here," Hiroko said. "It was mostly a majority rule due to the other ministers wishing to come here. Though, I guess after seeing her again, I do have a reason to get to Earth."

"And that reason is?" Tsukuyomi said, looking down at Hiroko as she lowered her head.

"I want… I want to let her live on Earth," Hiroko said, raising her head again and walking towards Tsukuyomi. "I know at this point i'm likely labelled as a criminal to the gods due to my absence and constant talk to her, so I am likely in no position to request something such as that, or even think of going near any of the other gods. But if there's a way to let her live her eternal life on the planet she loved above all else, then as her sister, I should find a way for her to do so. It won't be easy, especially considering her reputation. But it's something I strive to do. That's my ambition, Lord Tsukuyomi. So i'm borrowing the Lunar Capital for a while, until I find a way to let that happen. You'll be in the Martian Jail. Once I either find a way to let her live there, or fail to do so, you'll be granted the Lunar Capital back and we'll stay on Mars forevermore. But to the outside eye, I can't let this plan get out to public ear. Lord Tsukuyomi, i've won this fight. Call out for the Lunarian defeat."

Tsukuyomi closed his eyes, before signalling for Hiroko to let him free from the laser trap. He then left the room, telling a moon rabbit outside the palace to spread the news of defeat to the other moon rabbits.

"Lady Yorihime!" A moon rabbit to the south said, bounding up to Yorihime as she looked down at the rabbit. "L-Lord Tsukuyomi was defeated in battle! The Martian's… won. He's ordered for us to escape the Moon and hide away on Earth!"

"What!?" Yorihime exclaimed, as she gasped upon hearing the news. She let go of Kasumi, who was smiling upon hearing the news, but was stopped by a voice halting her.

"Yorihime," Toyohime said, catching her attention and stopping her. "There's no point. Apparently the person there is far stronger than Lord Tsukuyomi. Let's do as he wishes for now."

"T-Toyohime," Yorihime said, stopping and closing her eyes. "Right… I guess you're right."

"I sent a letter to Lady Yagokoro detailing what happened," Toyohime said, looking at Yorihime. "I can use my ability to take us there, hopefully she'll be willing to let us take refuge at her place."

"Lady Yagokoro?" Yorihime asked, before closing her eyes. "I suppose considering the times we are in, it would be fine to stay with traitors. Let's go, then. I'm looking forward to meeting her again, of course."

"As am I," Toyohime smiled, before looking around her. The moon rabbits from the north had gathered to the south, and there were very few, if any casualties among them due to them watching the fights that had taken place. "I… also hope she'll be willing to let all these moon rabbits stay around for a while, also."

As she said that, Yorihime, Toyohime, and all the moon rabbits were transported from the moon to Gensokyo.

Kasumi remained on the moon, standing up as she was finally set free. "We won… huh? 'Lord Tsukuyomi was defeated', they said. I guess that's their overall leader, in which case he was most likely stronger than Yorihime. Then… who beat her? Yorimi? No… it couldn't be her…"

"Why couldn't it be me?" Yorimi shouted through the ear chip. "I'm just as strong as everyone else, I can hold my own out there!"

"Was it Hiroko? Or maybe Kaiya managed to use her ability against this 'Tsukuyomi'," Kasumi said, walking towards the Lunar Capital.

"D-did you just ignore me?" Yorimi said through the ear chip, before sighing. "Anyway, Hiroko said she's positioning me, herself and Kaiya in the Lunar Capital whereas you and Saiko stay behind as back-up in case something goes amok. I need to use my ability with the new materials we have accessed to us, after all."

"Huh? Did admitting defeat for the first time cause me to have auditory hallucinations?"

"You… are ignoring me," Yorimi sighed, before finally staying silent.

A while afterwards, Hiroko went to Mars to 'check on something'. She approached the large door, pushing it open and walking inside. Nuwa was awake, this time, and she smiled upon seeing Hiroko.

"Ah- Hiroko!" Nuwa smiled, moving her hands slightly into the air as a way to express glee. "I'm happy to see you! What's happened since you visited me last week?"

Hiroko smiled, walking through the corridor and into the room that Nuwa was locked in. "A lot happened, Nuwa. In fact, we managed to take over the moon. Soon enough we could take Earth back, and i'll find a way to let you stay on Earth as you like, I promise."

"Oh! You did?" Nuwa smiled, raising her head up and attempting to stand from her position, before being shackled down. "Ah- well, i'd love to go to Earth again! I wonder how much it has changed, how much its people have changed, how far they've come. I want to see it with my own eyes!"

Hiroko nodded, walking closer to Nuwa and kneeling down in front of her. "You will, I promise. You won't be able to live as a god ever again, but you might be able to live as a normal human for times to come."

"That would be nice…" Nuwa said, her tone darkening a little. "I made so many mistakes as a god… I guess I just wasn't worthy, was I? By the way, which one of the gods was it that locked me up here?"

Hiroko gasped slightly, before remaining as composed as she could. "I… I forgot exactly who it was. I remembered Tsukuyomi and the others, but I can't remember which one of them locked you here," she lied, standing up again.

"You forgot something?" Nuwa exclaimed in surprise, her eyes widening as she realised what Hiroko had said. "W-well I guess that's normal, huh? Though… this is the first time you've ever forgotten something, even from millions, maybe even billions at this point, years ago." she said, before snickering a little. "I've been stuck her so long, I haven't kept track of time any more…"

"That's normal," Hiroko nodded, before walking backwards slightly. "Though, it may be a while until we go to Earth. The people of the moon were way stronger than anticipated. But I promise the time will be soon. The time that you will eventually walk your favourite, most nostalgic planet once again."

 ***Spell Card!* Character Insight!**

 **Nuwa Amagai: Older sister of 'Hiroko Amagai' and the creator of the universe and life. She is the only survivor of the previous existing universe, which was a universe inhabited only by gods. She erased the entire world of gods herself, after becoming intoxicated by her power to create and erase anything. She went on to create the universe as it is known now, however, after some events, she was locked away in the Invisible Martian City by her own sister.**

 **Hiroko Amagai (revisited): Younger sister of 'Nuwa Amagai' and the first life that was ever created by Nuwa in the universe as it is known. She locked her sister away by using magic that she could not overpower, preventing Nuwa from ever escaping. Due to her never returning to the gods and her constant exchanges with Nuwa, however, she was branded a criminal by the gods, and she forced to never show her face again. Currently, however, she is risking herself on a chance that maybe, her sister will be able to visit and live on her favourite planet once again.**

 **Next time on Touhou: Defense Against the Unseen World:**

 **Gensokyo finally appears in the story, along with a certain lazy Shrine Maiden and an extremely ordinary magician. Yukari Yakumo realises the grave threat that the Martian's seem to pose against Gensokyo, warning its strongest residents about the threat and causing them to train ready for it. As well as this, Yorihime and Toyohime reunite with their long-lost master.**


	8. Yukari's Desperation - 1000 Year Reunion

**(Author's Note: Apologies for the late update. I had an Exam Week.)**

Reimu Hakurei, Shrine Maiden of the Hakurei Shrine, was sweeping the outside of her shrine on a rather sunny day of Gensokyo. She seemed to be bored, as if the amount of physical labour required to sweep around her shrine was boring her to where she wished for something else to do. Eventually, she dropped the broom down onto the floor before letting out a sigh of relief.

"Ah, finally," she said, turning around to the shrine and walking forward. "Maybe the shrine could actually get some visitors now…" as she finished saying that, the broom that she had dropped hit her on the back of her head, causing her to stumble forward slightly from the surprise. "Gah- who-"

Yukari sat upon her border, lowering her arm from which she had thrown the broom to catch Reimu's attention. "Reimu, I have an urgent request for you."

"Yukari? You seem more serious than usual," Reimu said, sighing. "And was it really necessary to hit me on the back of the head with a broom?"

"There is life on Mars, what we call Martian's." Yukari said, ignoring what Reimu was saying. "They took over the moon, defeating the Lunarians there. They are much stronger than anything we've had to deal with before, and they seem to be threatening the safety of Gensokyo. So, I need you to start training, Reimu. We need as many people as we can get, so it'd also be helpful if you visited some people while I prepare."

"You need to train as well?" Reimu asked, sighing as she picked up the broom. "Well, I suppose it would be my duty to do such things. How strong are we talking about here?"

"One of them appears to have some sort of power that transcends the gods," Yukari said, her face getting slightly more serious. "One of them appears to burn anything at will, as well as use any other sort of chemicals. One of them can simply transport anything to anywhere else, including people into outer space. One of the less threatening ones can summon anything at will, and the other one hasn't shown any strength, but can change materials to any other materials."

"Looks like you did your homework," Reimu joked, rolling her eyes. "This sounds awfully familiar to when you wanted to steal something from the moon. I have to train for something regarding the moon. How can I be sure this isn't some sort of trick?"

Yukari sighed, reaching her arm through a gap opened next to her. She pulled out the book of Martian History, before tossing it over to Reimu, who fumbled to catch it. "The Lunarian you fought who can summon the spirits of gods is also coming here after the loss against the Martians, as well as her sister and many moon rabbits."

"Oh, excellent," Reimu said, sighing as she closed her eyes. "Well, if the fate of Gensokyo is at stake, I can't really refuse, now can I?"

"That's right," Yukari nodded, before turning away from Reimu whilst opening a gap in front of her. "Now, i'll be back to check on you soon. No slacking off, understand?"

"Yes, yes," Reimu sighed, walking away and back into her shrine and Yukari disappeared through the gap.

"Why was Yukari here just now?" Marisa asked, who was sitting in the shrine whilst eating something. Reimu jumped in surprise, before her face quickly shifted to one of annoyance.

"Marisa, how did you get in here?" Reimu asked, putting the broom away as she turned angrily towards the magician.

"I'm a thief, I find my way into places without people noticing on a daily basis," Marisa smiled, as she finished the food she likely stole from within the shrine. "Sooo, what was Yukari here to talk to you about?"

"Mars people took over the moon and are apparently going to come here in order to take over the world," Reimu said, with an added sigh on the end. "Sounds pretty far-fetched, I know. But if Gensokyo's existence may be at stake, I better start trai-"

"Wait, people even stronger than those Lunarians?" Marisa asked, as her eyes sparkled in excitement. "Looks like I need to be trainin' as well. Hey Reimu, i'll race ya. First person to train up strong enough to beat a Mars person wins, alright?"

"Actually," Reimu said, as a sweatdrop emerged on her forehead. "I have a job for you, Marisa. You go around places and tell them of the possible threat. Yukari asked me to do that too, so you can get that job out of the way for me."

"What~?" Marisa sighed in annoyance. "But that's your job, Yukari said so! You can do that while I train for the oncoming battle."

"Wouldn't that put you ahead in the race?" Reimu said, smiling. "If you want to make this race fair and fun, wouldn't you want to handicap yourself first by waiting an extra amount of time before training?"

"Well, when you put it that way," Marisa smiled, holding the hat on her head as she closed her eyes and smiled. "I guess it would be no fun if we started at the same time, huh? I'll go tell Alice and the people at the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Is there anyone else I should tell?"

"Everyone," Reimu said, sighing. "I'd rather not have Yukari getting so worried. As long as everyone knows about it, i'll be fine. So it's best to tell Sanae as well as the Tengu's up there to get those gods involved, as well as the people at Myouren Temple. Eventually, word should spread to everyone."

"Aww~" Marisa sighed, as she stepped outside the shrine. "Looks like you're sending me all over the place trying to get these people, huh? Well, I can't let you have too much of a head start. See ya later!" She said, as she flew off on her broom.

Reimu sighed as she watched Marisa fly away. "People who were able to beat the Lunarians? I doubt they exist."

Meanwhile, outside of Eientei, Yorihime and Toyohime walked up to the door, with the latter raising her hand, in preparation to knock. "I believe this is the place," She said, as she hit her hand against the door, creating a noise from inside.

After a few anxious seconds, the door was slowly opened, as a rather tall character with long, purple hair and ears like a rabbit's peaked through the opened hole to see who it is. After she made out the faces, she opened the door quickly and gasped in surprise.

"M-masters?" She said in surprise, as Yorihime smiled and Toyohime opened her fan over her mouth.

"Yep, we're here on a mandatory stop after some Martians took over the moon." Toyohime said, walking in as she placed her free hand on Reisen's head. "Nice to see you again, Reisen. Is Lady Yagokoro home?"

"Y-yes," Reisen nodded, still not getting over the initiate shock factor of seeing her former masters after an incredibly long time.

"You did send the letter, right Toyohime?" Yorihime asked, walking past Reisen with a hand on the pet's head also. "It's not like we came here without any prior warning."

"I'm completely certain I sent it to the right place," Toyohime sighed, closing her fan. "Hey, Reisen. Did you get a letter earlier? About two hours ago."

"I saw - I saw Master Eirin reading a letter earlier…" Reisen said, turning to face into Eientei as she closed the door behind the two of them. "I heard from the moon rabbits what happened on the moon, but I didn't think you'd… come here."

"Oh, we brought all the others moon rabbits from the moon along with us too," Toyohime said, smiling to Reisen. "So… where is Master Yagokoro?"

"Ah, I understand you'd have stuff to speak to her about," Reisen said, quickly alerting herself. "I'll take you to her. Follow me."

"Alright then," Toyohime said, still smiling as the two sisters followed their previous pet through the halls of Eientei. "So, Reisen, how has it been here with Lady Yagokoro and the Princess?"

"Ah - it's been fine," Reisen answered, nodding her head as her loss of breath from meeting with her masters again finally came back to her.

"That's good to here," Toyohime said, placing a hand on Reisen's head once again. "Lady Yagokoro must have been treating you well for you to feel so at home here on Earth. So, Reisen, after we beat those Martian's and get the Lunar Capital back, what do you say you come back to the Lunar Capital? We can make sure you avoid all possible punishments~."

"Well… I could consider it…" Reisen said, as she thought about her past life on the Moon. "But what about Master Eirin?"

"I believe the crime she committed was far too grave to allow her back on the moon," Yorihime said, as her eyes closed and her face turned to a frown. "Though, if she shows herself to be completely turned around and assists greatly to help Lord Tsukuyomi escape, she may be considered to be allowed back in the Lunar Capital."

"I see," Reisen nodded, as her face also seemed to frown slightly. "Master Eirin is through here, i'll see you again soon."

"We'll make sure to come and play with you once we're done," Toyohime smiled as she waved Reisen goodbye, who walked through the halls. Toyohime again raised her hand, however was stopped from knocking on.

"Come in," Eirin's voice said from behind the door. Toyohime and Yorihime looked at each other, before Toyohime opened the door and Yorihime was first to step through.

"L-Lady Yagokoro," Yorihime said, clasping her hands and bowing. "I apologise for the sudden intrusion here, please forgive us."

Eirin smiled in response, standing up from her originally seated position and walking over to the two sisters. "It's fine, really. I understand the Lunarians lost against the people from Mars, so you had to seek refuge here in Gensokyo. Please, make yourselves at home for the duration of your stay."

"L-Lady Yagokoro?" Yorihime asked, surprised at Eirin's smiling nature for a second, before shaking it off. "I'm pleased to see you again after all this time."

"As am I," Toyohime said, walking through the door herself and waving her fan in front of her. "Yeah, the Martian's were pretty tough. I lost to one of them who could transport everything to anywhere, including across the the scientific and fantastical sides of the moon."

"Speak for yourself," Yorihime said, smiling. "I fought the one who claimed to be the strongest Martian and won easily. She wasn't all that tough, though she did have some interesting powers at her disposal and provided some entertainment."

"Please," Toyohime said, narrowing her eyes slightly. "I was outmatched because he ability countered my most powerful assets. You're just trying to show off because Lady Yagokoro is here, aren't you?"

"I am not!" Yorihime insisted, biting her lip slightly in annoyance. "I'm just relaying my side of the story, as you did with yours."

Eirin looked at the both of them, before laughing slightly to herself. "Calm down, both of you," She said, as she walked towards the middle of her room. "Would you like something to drink? I'm just as pleased to see the two of you as you are to see me, you know? However, we do have a lot to discuss about the current situation."

"Indeed we do," Yorihime nodded, as she began to catch her breath quickly. "I may have won against one of them, but one of them won against Sagume, Toyohime and Lord Tsukuyomi. The person I fought against may not have been as strong as they claimed themselves to be."

"Perhaps they were not," Eirin nodded, as she began pouring drinks and inviting the sisters to sit at a table, which they did as Eirin sat at the other end. "But one of them defeated Lord Tsukuyomi, as you said. Tsukuyomi is a powerful god, which means someone on their side must be stronger than him, or perhaps transcend the concept of gods. If they do transcend gods, then you would be in grave danger in a fight against them, Yorihime."

"Yeah, Lady Yagokoro is right," Toyohime smiled, looking over at Yorihime. "Looks like you just fought against the weakest of the bunch claiming to be the strongest. Although, Kaiya did mention that i'm still much stronger than she is."

"Kaiya must be the one you fought against," Eirin said, nodding to herself. "Did you catch any other names?"

"My opponent was named Kasumi, and she mentioned someone called 'Hiroko'," Yorihime answered.

"Hiroko?" Eirin asked, tilting her head slightly. "I recall Tsukuyomi mentioning that name once also, although I did not think she would become something of great concern. She must be some sort of god for Tsukuyomi to know of her, and I can only imagine her to be the one to defeat Tsukuyomi given the known information."

"So, this 'Hiroko' is likely the strongest of the bunch, as well as likely their leader," Yorihime deduced, nodding her head. "If she is a god stronger than Lord Tsukuyomi, then it is likely she is stronger than the god spirits that I call upon during battle. That would be troublesome."

"So, someone who could be stronger than us two exists amongst their ranks?" Toyohime asked, smiling. "In that case, we may need more training if we are to go up against an opponent such as that."

Eirin smiled as she immediately realised what Toyohime was referring to. "I'll happily take you on as my pupils once again, though I can't guarantee to teach you anything new. Although, I don't know how that would settle with the authorities of the Lunar Capital. I am still labelled as a high offender there, am I not? So someone like you two coming under me as pupils could cause some sort of dramatic consequence I would not like to send you through."

"You are labelled as a high criminal," Yorihime confirmed, nodding. "However, given the current circumstances, I deem it acceptable to ignore that aspect for the concurring events."

"If you end up helping a lot, we could even give you a pardon and let you and the Princess back on the moon~" Toyohime smiled, stretching out the final syllable as Eirin closed her eyes and shortly nodded.

"I doubt that would be possible," She said, as she opened her eyes once again. "Although, if the offer does arise, me and Lady Kaguya will look over the possibility. So, for now, I will take the two of you on as my pupils once again. We will prepare for the worst, if there is a being that transcends gods among them. When the time comes, I will assist in taking back the Lunar Capital, for Tsukuyomi, the two of you, and for the moon rabbits you most likely brought here with you."

"That sounds great," Yorihime asked, before her thoughts were cut off.

"Eirin, what's with all the ruckus…" Kaguya said, as she opened the door to Eirin's room. "Huh? Ah - you're the two leaders of the defense force… Eirin, what happened here?"

"Ah, Princess," Eirin said, nodding her head. "People from the planet known as Mars attacked the Moon and won, so the two sisters have come here in refuge whilst the Moon is under Martian rule."

"Princess Kaguya, good to see you again after this time," Yorihime said, bowing to Kaguya. "Don't be alarmed, no matter the circumstances we will not press any charges against you, Lady Yagokoro or Reisen."

"We could even let you back on the moon if you help out~" Toyohime smiled, also bowing.

"Ah, that's good to hear…" Kaguya nodded, rubbing her eyes as if she had just woken up. "I've started to take a liking to staying here in Eientei, though…"

"Ah, I understand," Yorihime nodded, with a slight look at Toyohime with the corner of her eyes.

"I'm retaking the sisters under me as my pupils, we need to train for the likely possibility of a Martian assault against Gensokyo. I plan to help out in the retaking of the moon to help the sisters as well as the moon rabbits that have migrated here," Eirin explained to Kaguya, who was still rubbing her eyes and didn't appear to be awake enough to be paying attention to her.

"I see…" She said, seemingly lying as she wasn't in the state of mind to be listening to Eirin. "I'll go wake up now…"

"Very well, Princess," Eirin said, as Kaguya left the room.

 ***Spell Card!* Character Insight!**

 **Reimu Hakurei: She is the Shrine Maiden of the Hakurei Shrine, as well as main protagonist of the Touhou Series. She is rather straightforward and optimistic, however spends a lot of her spare time lazing around within the Hakurei Shrine. She has the ability to float, to the point where she can float through life. This allows her to become invulnerable for as long as she wishes, however this was deemed far too powerful for the 'Spell Card Rules' until Marisa Kirisame gave it a name and time limit. As well as this, like Watatsuki no Yorihime, she possesses the ability to invoke Gensokyo's Native Gods into her body and borrow their powers, however she is not as trained in this ability as Yorihime is.**

 **Marisa Kirisame: She prides herself on being an ordinary magician, as well as the sub-protagonist of the Touhou Series. She is very informal with everyone, no matter who she is talking to, and is a habitual liar. She also has an occupation as a thief, often sneaking into places and taking things without the owner's consent. She has an innate ability to use magic, and often takes her own attacks from other people, such as her 'Love Sign 'Master Spark'' being incredibly similar to Yuuka Kazami's laser attacks, as well as her 'Love Sign 'Non-Directional Laser'' being taken from Patchouli Knowledge.**

 **Kaguya Houraisan: Former Princess of the moon who was exiled due to using the 'Hourai Elixir' made by Eirin Yagokoro. She now spends most of her days sleeping and indoors, often not going outside. She also shares a rivalry with 'Fujiwara no Mokou' due to Kaguya embarrassing Mokou's family with impossible requests when Mokou's father offered Kaguya his hand in marriage. She has the ability to manipulate eternity and instantaneous, which is essentially bringing things to a complete stop with the powers of eternity, or speeding them up greatly with the powers of instantaneous. Because of this, her powers are comparable to time manipulation.**

 **Eirin Yagokoro: Eirin was the creator of the 'Hourai Elixir' that Kaguya drank, and because of this, she was also exiled to Gensokyo along with the Princess. She is an enigmatic person surrounded by many mysteries, and her answers to those mysteries serve only to strengthen such mysteries. She has naturally high intellect, and because of this, she comes of as impatient and condescending at times. She has the ability to make any drug, which is the ability she used to create the Hourai Elixir. She also taught the Watatsuki Sisters.**

 **Reisen Undongein Inaba: A moon rabbit who fled to the Earth and found Kaguya and Eirin. Surprised to meet these notorious figures, she requested asylum within Eientei and became Kaguya's pet, as well as Eirin's student and medicine seller. She was originally the pet of the Watatsuki sisters, before she fled to Earth. She is a loyal pet to Kaguya and protects Eirin as well, however, despite being frowned upon by the lunarians, attempts to help the Lunar Capital during Junko's attempts to take over it. She has the ability to manipulate insanity, which she often does when people look into her eyes. Once they do, they begin to lose sanity.**

 **(Author's Note: Only took 8 chapters, but the main character finally appears.)**


	9. Oncoming Threat! - Warning the Residents

"Hey, Hiroko," Yorimi said, holding her finger against the device in her ear. "You there? There's no magical field preventing our talking from across the worlds?"

"None," Hiroko replied back through the ear chip.

The Minister of Resources, Yorimi, was sent down into Gensokyo through the use of Kaiya's powers. She was naturally sent to Gensokyo in order to find out more about the Resources that the residents of Gensokyo had access to, as well as attempt to halt any resourceful progression that Gensokyo may be going through by combining them with something useless, resulting in the finished product being less than usable. She looked around her at the empty fields that had trees and hills scattered around, as she saw some large, yellow petalled flowers in the distance. She chose to ignore that direction for now, choosing to go back there later. Instead, she walked through the emptiness as a village was in sight.

"Who are you?" A voice said from behind her, which instantly made Yorimi jump in surprise as she hadn't realised there was anyone following her. She turned her head around to see a small girl wearing a black hat with a yellow ribbon tied around it. She had green hair, also. "I've never seen you around here before. Are you new around here?"

"Ah, yes," Yorimi said, bowing her head down in a polite manner. "My name is Yorimi Kawakami. Pleased to meet you."

"My name's Koishi Komeiji!" She said, which was around the same point that Yorimi noticed the strings around her that focused into a closed eye. "Were you going to the human village?"

"I don't know the place names…" Yorimi laughed, as to not seem too suspicious. "As you presumed, I am quite new to this place."

"What are you a Youkai of?" Koishi asked, tilting her head as she poked at Yorimi, which Yorimi reacted to by moving her arm slightly as it was poked.

"H-huh?" She asked.

"Everyone new who comes here is a Youkai, silly!" Koishi exclaimed, spinning around as she jumped away from Yorimi. "I'm a Satori Youkai! I can read minds with my third eye, but I closed it off a while ago. What are you?"

"I'm… a Youkai of materials," Yorimi answered, stopping to think as she did so.

"Oh? I never heard of one of those before! You must be the first one from around here then! What's your special ability?" Koishi said, excited to see something she had never seen before.

"Aha, now watch this," Yorimi said, seemingly playing along with the childish nature Koishi seemed to be showing. She walked over to a nearby tree, ripping some of the bark off. She then picked up some soil from the ground, as Koishi watched in wonder at what was going to happen. Yorimi pressed the two together, as a bright light emerged from them. What was left was a wooden sword, which seemed to have soil dirtying it. "It's a basic, wooden sword. However the soil on it can do some serious damage if you strike an already open wound with it."

"Wow!" Koishi exclaimed, grabbing the sword and twirling it around as she looked at it. "That's a cool ability! I can manipulate people's subconscious, watch!" as she said that, she disappeared from Yorimi's view. "I made it so you subconsciously don't acknowledge my existence!"

"So is that how you snuck up on me before?" Yorimi smiled, as she sat down against the tree. "That's quite impressive."

"Mhm!" Koishi said, reappearing within Yorimi's view.

"Although," Yorimi smiled, closing her eyes as she waved a finger in the air. "I know someone who can just look at you, without even looking into your eyes, from just your feet, and know everything about you. Your powers, your relationships, even key details in your past life."

"Wow!" Koishi exclaimed, crouching down to look at Yorimi face to face. "That sounds like my sisters powers! She combines hypnosis with mind reading to know what your thinking and bring out trauma from your past life!"

"It's nothing like hypnosis or mind reading…" Hiroko said through the chip in Yorimi's ear, which went unnoticed to Koishi.

"You're right, that does sound similar!" Yorimi exclaimed, as she cheerfully jumped up from her position against the tree. "Maybe the two of them could get along sometime."

"Please…" Hiroko muttered through the chip. "Please just… stop going along with this charade now that you've dragged me into this."

"Get along with my sister?" Koishi asked, as she placed a finger in her mouth and hooked around her lower lip. "I'm… not sure that's possible. Nobody other than me and animals seem to like her."

"That also sounds similar to my friend," Yorimi smiled, tilting her head. "Nobody likes her because she just knows everything about you on first contact."

"Wait, what?" Hiroko asked through the chip.

"It seems they have a lot in common!" Koishi said, as she smiled again. "I'm going now! I'll tell sis all about you and that friend of yours! Bye!"

"I hope to meet you again," Yorimi nodded, as Koishi ran off.

"What was that about nobody liking me?" Hiroko asked, her tone turning much more serious than it usually is.

"Hmm," Yorimi said, looking around as if to come up with a way to escape the conversation. "Hiroko, can I have details of the area i'm in before I walk around this place?"

"Are you ignoring me?" Hiroko asked, before she eventually sighed and gave up. "There's a flower field to the south west, with that village you see in the relative centre of the area. They're both barely in your field of vision, so I estimate about a six mile difference between the two of them, depending on your eyesight."

"Was that your way of condescendingly questioning my eyesight?" Yorimi asked. "Because if so, you failed."

"Near that village is a lake with a mansion looking over it," Hiroko continued, ignoring what Yorimi said. "Following the river west will reach a mountain where there seems to be a shrine there, and following the river east will reach a forest, where there seems to be a shrine located within that at the edge of this place. A bit below the shrine, and to the south east, there seems to be a forest of bamboo trees. You should be able to see it if you turn around a little. To the very south is a rather large hill with what appears to be a temple situated on top of it. It's up to you where you go first."

"Those fly familiars of hers do come in handy when you catch some, huh?" Yorimi said, as she looked towards the bamboo forest, then towards the temple. "I think i'll visit that temple first. Seems like some sort of important structure."

And with that, Yorimi proceeded south with the intent to find more about the land, or about any strategies they may be conspiring within the temple against the possible Martian invasion.

Meanwhile, Marisa Kirisame flew down in front of a house within the forest to the east, before walking in without any prior warning of her arrival. "Alice! I need to talk to you about something very important."

"Gah- Marisa, knock before coming in next time, please," Alice said, as she held the centre of her chest in fright. "How important is it?"

"Reimu may kill me if it isn't done properly," Marisa answered, putting her broom against the wall.

"Oh, so not particularly important then?" Alice asked, as she looked towards Marisa.

"It _is_ important," Marisa sighed. "Listen, long story short, a bunch of Mars people took over the moon and seem to be threatening the fate of Gensokyo. Yukari wanted Reimu to go spread the word to get everyone into fighting action, and Reimu wanted me to spread the word to get everyone into fighting action. Now I want you to spread the word to get everyone into fighting action."

"Not a chance," Alice said, sighing at Marisa's story. "And why should I believe you?"

"Because Yukari told Reimu and Reimu told me. Now i'm telling you," Marisa smiled, sitting down on a chair next to her. "Now you're going to tell everyone else while I train."

"Not. A. Chance." Alice said, spacing out her words for more impact. "So, what you're saying is that you want me to train? Or are you telling me that Yukari wanted me to train so she passed it on to Reimu who passed it on to you who is now passing it on to me?"

"I dunno, I was just told to spread the word and get everyone into fighting action by Reimu who was told by-"

"Okay, okay. I get the point," Alice said, holding up one of her dolls as she looked at it. "So, Yukari is arming our forces up and getting them stronger for a _possible_ invasion of the Martians? Although, it seems likely that they would invade if they targeted the moon."

"Is thatta yes?" Marisa asked, tilting her head.

Alice sighed, placing her doll down as she stood up. "If they beat the Martians, they must be extremely powerful. I don't know how much I can help in the long run, but if it's an order coming from Yukari, refusing would result in a more undesirable scenario."

"...Is thatta yes?" Marisa asked, narrowing her eyes this time.

"Yes, Marisa. That does mean I will train for the possibility of a Martian invasion," Alice said, sighing. "Although, if such a thing does not occur, I will be quite disappointed that I wasted my time getting ready for something that does not exist."

"Alright then!" Marisa exclaimed, grabbing her broom as she walked out of Alice's house. "Goodbye Alice. Don't let me down." she said, without letting Alice respond and flying away.

"You don't need to worry about me," Alice muttered to herself, looking down.

Marisa flew over the Human Village, as she landed inside the gate to the Scarlet Devil Mansion, avoiding a sleeping Meiling. "One down, three more places to go." she said, as she walked in uninvited to the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

As she walked in, she found Sakuya Izayoi appear in front of her, as a knife was pointed to her face. She lowered her hand down upon seeing Marisa more closely. "What is it that _you_ want here?"

"I wanna speak to Remilia," Marisa said, walking past Sakuya. "Urgent business. Something you'll never be able to help out with."

"Excuse me?" Sakuya asked, as she seemed to teleport past Marisa. "You'll have to tell me of this urgent business before I let you speak to the mistress."

"Sakuya~" A voice said, as Remilia walked into the main hall. "What's all this commotion about? Can't you just defeat her quickly if there's a burglar?"

"I'm not here for burg-"

"Actually, there is a burglar here," Sakuya said, as she walked over to Remilia. "However it's Marisa. And she says she has something important to talk to you about."

"Oh?" Remilia said, as her interest seemed to spark up a little. "What's it about? Care to discuss it over some tea?"

"Some tea would be nice after my flights," Marisa said, walking through. "I'll go sit at the table outside."

"Excuse me, this isn't your house," Remilia said, holding out her hand to stop Marisa walking. "We'll go sit at the table outside and wait for Sakuya to bring us some tea. Sakuya, straight to it."

"Yes, Mistress," Sakuya sighed, as she walked to the Kitchen. Remilia and Marisa walked to the balcony, as they both seated themselves at opposite ends of the table. Remilia looked inquiringly at Marisa, waiting for Marisa to speak up, who was busy looking over the balcony.

"Ahem," Remilia said, catching Marisa's attention. "What did you want to tell me about?"

"Oh, yeah," Marisa said, as she quickly remembered her reason for coming. "Yukari told Reimu who told me to go tell everyone to train for a possible invasion from Mars people that took over the moon. Wait, if Mars people take over the moon and the moon people come down here, does that make them Mars people or Moon people?"

"That's not important," Remilia said, narrowing her right eye. "So, the Mars people beat the Moon people, so the Mars people are in the Moon people's home. Now the then Mars people now Moon people want to take over Gensokyo and become used to be Mars people then Moon people then Gensokyo people?"

"Pretty much," Marisa said, sighing as the tea came out.

"And so Yukari wants us to train for an invasion that comes from the Moon again, however this time it's from Mars people… from the Moon?" Remilia asked. "I'm in. Sakuya, you and Patchy are helping me train for the invasion of the Mars-Moon people."

"...What?" Sakuya asked, looking inquiringly at Remilia.

"Martians beat Lunarians in a war, apparently. Now they want to take over Gensokyo and Yukari wants me to train to beat the Martians back to where they came from," Remilia explained.

"Actually, she wants everyon-"

"They're not important," Remilia said, narrowing her eyes at Marisa. "So, Sakuya, training starts in an hour. Go tell Patchy for me."

"E-Excuse me, Mistress," Sakuya said, holding the tray she brought the tea out on up to her chest. "If they beat the Lunarians, that means they beat that Yorihime girl. Do you know what training to beat them would therefore mean?"

"Yes, Sakuya," Remilia said, smiling. "I'll just get stronger to beat them! The two of them are here in Gensokyo now, according to what Marisa said about the Moon people coming to Gensokyo. Once i've trained a bunch, i'll go fight both of them at the same time! Then the Martians won't stand a chance against me!"

"Mistress…" Sakuya said, sighing. "How do we know that these Martians exist?"

"Because Yukari told Reimu who told Marisa who told me," Remilia said, smiling. "Besides, if there's no invasion, all that training will mean I could beat even Yukari! So, Sakuya, get Patchy ready."

"Y-yes Mistress…" Sakuya sighed, as she walked away from the table. Marisa picked up her broom as well as her cup of tea.

"Next stop, Myouren Temple! Thanks for the drink," Marisa smiled, as she flew off before Remilia could say anything.

 ***Spell Card!* Character Insight!**

 **Koishi Komeiji: A Satori Youkai who shut off her third eye, preventing her from being able to read minds like a normal satori Youkai would typically be able to. Due to her closing her third eye, she has become incredibly excitable and cheery all the time, which is reflected in how she acts around everyone. She has the ability to manipulate a person's subconscious, allowing her to appear invisible to the person, or make anything that is related to the subconscious stop, such as breathing.**

 **Alice Margatroid: A magician who lives in the forest near the Hakurei Shrine, as well as close to Marisa Kirisame's house. She allows anyone who may be lost in the forest of magic to seek shelter within her house, however, since her house is littered with dolls, the people she helps are quick to flee. She's often indoors, and while she offers hospitality to lost passer-by, she is not eager for conversation. Being a magician, Alice has the ability to use magic, however she specialises in dealing with dolls, often using them as her primary method of offense and defense. She also reportedly stuffs gunpowder into her dolls.**

 **Remilia Scarlet: A bratty, self-centred vampire who is the mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, as Remilia herself is often referred to as the 'Scarlet Devil'. She often comes across as polite when people first meet her, as despite her usual self-centred nature, she is rather mature for someone who looks about eleven. Vampires must also sacrifice growth and maturity, making her polite demeanour even more showing. She supposedly has the ability to manipulate fate, however there are no known instances of her using this ability.**

 **Sakuya Izayoi: Maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, as well as being one of the few humans that inhabit Gensokyo outside of the Human village. She serves as Remilia's maid, often being loyal to her and typically goes with whatever Remilia tells her to do, even if she may disagree with what the act may entail. She has the ability to manipulate time, often pausing time to gain an advantage in battle, as it looks like she is constantly teleporting with knives appearing whenever she uses this ability in battle.**


	10. Warning the Residents 2! - Martian Plan!

Marisa flew down in front of the steps leading to Myouren Temple, as she leaned her broom against a nearby tree. She nodded, walking up the stairs, until halfway up them…

"Boo!" A turquoise haired youkai said, leaping out of the bushes on the side of the stairs. She had heterochromia, with her right eye matching the colour of her hair, while her left eye was a shade of red. She also held an umbrella in her hands.

Marisa didn't seem fazed by the youkai's attempt to scare her. "Hmm. Nah, you're not important enough to hear about this," She said, walking past her and up the stairs.

"What?" She asked as Marisa walked away, scurrying up the stairs as she grabbed Marisa's clothes. "First you don't get surprised by me, now you're saying i'm not important? I knew it, i'm worthless as a youkai and a living being. I should just give up on surprising people and starve if i'm not good at anything!"

"Eh, you go do that," Marisa said, pushing her hand away from her clothes. "I have very urgent business with Byakuren and the residents of the temple at this moment in time. You're much less important to the current state everything's apparently in."

"Huh? B-but i'm here aren't I? Doesn't that make me a resident?" she asked, persisting on not letting Marisa walk up the stairs.

"Maybe you are, but not an important enough one," Marisa said, pushing Kogasa away once again and trying to walk up the stairs. "This is getting annoying. Go back to your hidey-hole until i'm done. Then try again on my way out. Who knows, you might get lucky."

"Lucky? So the only reason some humans get surprised by me is because of luck?" Kogasa asked, lowering her head down. "I knew it. I have no skill at surprising people, or anything at all! I should just give up and stay in the bushes until I die!"

"I'd say that'd help, but I doubt Byakuren would let you die. Just wait for someone else, 'k?" Marisa said, as she walked up the stairs again.

"Fine! But if I can't surprise the next person then that's my hint to give up forever!" Kogasa shouted, walking back down the stairs and into the bush again.

Marisa reached the top of the stairs and walked through the gate, into the outside of the temple. Byakuren was already waiting for her, however, as she was standing near the gate, ready to greet whoever came up. "Huh? You're here already?"

"You set off our alarm," Byakuren said, smiling as she held her hat to fight against the wind.

"Alarm?" Marisa asked, with a questioning look on her face.

"Kogasa," Byakuren said simply, to which Marisa nodded in realisation. "Anyway, it isn't that often that you come to this temple. What triggered your change of mind to come visit us, Marisa?"

"That's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about," Marisa said, walking through the gate further. "Y'see, Yukari told Reimu to go look for people to help us, then Reimu told me to go look for people to help u-"

"I don't think that information is necessary. Knowing you, you wouldn't come to tell us this on your own accord," Byakuren said, still smiling as she did. As she said that, a bright, white light flew out from the edges of the temple area and around them, seemingly listening in to whatever they were talking about.

"Oh, hey Nue," Marisa said, to which the white light materialised into a girl with black hair, sporting one red wing split into three that pointed upwards, and one blue wing that pointed downwards and was also split into three.

"Oh, you had to ruin it," Nue said, sighing as she narrowed her eyes a little. "Ah well, the two of you have already seen my true form before."

"Well, I suppose you are pretty strong. I guess you can listen in to what I have to say," Marisa said, smiling at Nue.

"What do you have to say?" Byakuren asked, still giving off her friendly and warming atmosphere despite the waiting.

"Well, y'see-"

"Boo!" Kogasa's voice came from the stairs to the shrine.

"Gah!" Another voice said, seemingly scared by Kogasa's successful attempt to surprise them.

"Oh, time to go back to being unidentifiable," Nue said, as she returned to looking like a white light through the eyes of Marisa and Byakuren, seemingly through the eyes of the newcomer.

"Woohoo!" Kogasa said, charging up the stairs as she was overwhelmed by happiness. "See, Marisa! Didn't I tell you I could surprise someone easily. I was going easy on you."

"You were the one saying you couldn't," Marisa said, sighing as the newcomer walked up the stairs. She had light, blonde hair down to her shoulders as well as green eyes.

"Way to give a greeting," Yorimi said, looking around. "Ah, I wasn't aware there was two others here also. Apologies if i'm interrupting anything. I'm new around here so I thought i'd visit anywhere nearby."

"Welcome to the Myouren Temple," Byakuren greeted, smiling at Yorimi. "What's your name?"

"Yorimi Kawakami," Yorimi introduced. "How about you?"

"Byakuren Hijiri. Nice to meet you, Yorimi. This is Marisa Kirisame, and the one who's overjoyed with glee is Kogasa Tatara."

"Yes, yes. Fine, Kogasa, you get to hear what I have to say. And I guess it wouldn't hurt to let newbie hear as well," Marisa said, as she prepared herself to speak. "Where was I? Oh, yes. So Yukari told Reimu that a bunch of people from Mars took over the moon and won the war, then Reimu told me that. Yukari fears that the fate of Gensokyo is badly at stake so she wants as many people to get ready for battle as possible. That's what Yukari wanted Reimu to do, and what Reimu wanted me to do."

"Ah, so you want me to prepare for a big battle?" Byakuren asked, surprised to hear such things offered to her. "No can do, i'm afraid. We believe in peace between us all, so fighting in such a large war would go against our beliefs."

"Haven't you battle people before?" Marisa sighed, before looking at Byakuren again. "Although, if things turn incredibly sour, can we rely on you to provide any sort of back-up that you can?"

"Well…" Byakuren sighed, before nodding slowly. "If someone's life is at stake, I should help in anyway I can to stop them from dying."

"Alright, good t'hear," Marisa said, before looking at Kogasa. "What about you, Kogasa? Do you want to make yourself useful for once and at least _try_ to possibly save everyone's life?"

"Huh?" Kogasa asked, before frowning. "It's an order from Yukari, right? She's basically the head of Gensokyo, so I have to listen to her either way, right?"

"Yeah, you need to train triple as much as everyone else if you're going to help in anyway whatsoever though," Marisa said, before turning her head to Yorimi. "Look, I know you're new here an' all, but Yukari seems desperate for all the help she can get. Wanna help us out?"

"Huh?" Yorimi asked, seemingly snapping back into reality. "People from another planet threatening ours? Well… I can't really refuse in that case, can I?"

"Exactly," Marisa said, closing one eye as she pointed at Yorimi and smiled. "I'm busy right now, so I can't train with ya. Just remember, it's important for us, 'k?"

Yorimi nodded, as Marisa walked off, running down the stairs and flying away on her broom, up from the south towards the west. When she left, Byakuren turned to Yorimi.

"So, Yorimi, would you like to stay at the temple for now?" Byakuren offered. "The temple will always be open and accepting to humans and youkai alike. You can always return here if you have any questions about Gensokyo."

"Oh, certainly!" Yorimi said, nodding to Byakuren. "I'd like to stay here for now, thank you for the offer."

Meanwhile, Marisa landed outside the Moriya Shrine, leaning her broom against the gate and walking through. She looked around, before setting eyes on Sanae, who was outside sweeping the floors. "Hey, Sanae," Marisa called, catching Sanae's attention.

"Oh, it's just you," Sanae said, stopping her sweeping as she looked at Marisa. "Why are you here?"

"Actually, it's something more directed for Kanako, but you can listen in as well," Marisa said, as a godly power began to emerge in front of the shrine.

"Who is it that calls for me?" Kanako asked, as she materialised from the godly power and looked at Marisa. "Oh, it's just you. Why are you here?"

"Ah, here you are," Marisa said, as she gestured for the two of them to listen in. "Well, y'see-"

"What's all the commotion, Kanako?" Suwako said as she walked out of the shrine and looked at Marisa. "Oh, it's just you. Why are you here?"

"You all spend way too much time with each other," Marisa said, as a sort of sweatdrop emerged on her forehead. "Yukari told Reimu who told me to tell everyone I can and spread the word that some Mars people took over the moon and seem to be planning to take over Gensokyo. Yukari wants everyone to train and prepare for the possible invasion. Woo - that's the last time I gotta say that," Marisa said, adding the end part with a sigh and gesture of relief.

"Count me in," Kanako said, instantly after hearing the explanation. "If we perform well in this war, better than Miko's group and Byakuren's group, then the amount of faith we have in Gensokyo will sky-rocket as we become the new saviors of Gensokyo."

"Saviors of Gensokyo?" Sanae repeated, before nodding herself. "Then i'll join too. Being the heroine in such a great story will be great, indeed."

"Eh, i've been bored around here lately," Suwako said, raising her hands behind her head as she smiled. "I suppose joining you all would help the shrine and all, but it'll save me from dying due to boredom. Count me in."

"Wow… that was certainly the most frank answer i've had so far," Marisa said, surprised at how quickly all three of them agreed to help them.

"Well, you got your answer from us. Marisa, your time in my presence is over. Sanae, you go tell the tengu's about all this." Kanako said, smiling as Marisa nodded, flying away on her broom.

"Understood, Miss Kanako," Sanae said, running off from the shrine to go tell the tengus of the mountain about the oncoming threat.

Meanwhile, within the invisible Martian city, Kasumi was training in order to become stronger, trying new tricks with her ability to summon anything as her familiars. Whilst she was in the middle of a hard training session, however, Saiko walked in and interrupted her.

"Kasumi, I need to talk to you about something," She said simply, to which Kasumi turned around and looked at her.

"What is it?" Kasumi asked, walking over to Saiko.

"Come with me. It may help drastically with your ability to defeat that god summoner," Saiko said, gesturing for Kasumi to follow her. As they walked through the halls of the palace, they reached a prison. Within the prison were two captives, Sagume Kishin, as well as Lord Tsukuyomi. The bars and inside of the cells appeared to be infused with magical power, preventing even gods from escaping.

"I put chemicals in the water that Sagume drank that stopped her from talking," Saiko said, nodding towards Sagume's cell. "That way, she can't use her ability to stop us from plotting against Gensokyo. In the meantime, Kasumi, you're ability _is_ described as summoning _anything_ as your familiar, correct?"

"Yes, it is," Kasumi said, narrowing her eyes at Saiko, not understanding what she was trying to say.

"Well, if you can summon anything, then that would include things more powerful than you, correct?" Saiko said, not allowing an answer to come from Kasumi. "And since it's your familiar, it will stay loyal to you. So what i'm saying is, if you study up enough on what godkin is like, you theoretically would be able to summon your own gods, with their own levels of power. Against someone like her, that would be very helpful. You'd be fighting fire with fire, but your fire may end up greater, brighter and hotter than hers if you play your cards right and learn about your own ability."

"You're… right…" Kasumi said, as a smile emerged on her face. "If I learn how to summon gods as familiars, then I would definitely be the strongest Martian, right? Even stronger than Hiroko, who beat Tsukuyomi, right?"

"Well, in theory, you could," Saiko said, before sighing. "Although, I don't know myself how far her power reaches. She proved to us that she is much stronger than us by defeating a powerful god within seconds, however that might be the level that your gods can not reach. However, you could certainly surpass the god summoner. That's why I brought you here. We have a strong god in the flesh and blood right here for you to learn about from. Study up, then practice. Hiroko is preparing us for something big, I assure you."

"You're right, Saiko," Kasumi nodded. "Perhaps I was getting a bit too over my head in thinking i'd be able to handle Hiroko, especially after what you just said. But beating that god summoner is good enough for me, and i'd even be able to play a huge part in taking this 'Gensokyo' place."

"Indeed," Saiko said, walking away. "I leave you alone now. I trust that you will use your time wisely, and eventually breach into the realm of gods with your abilities."

Meanwhile, within the Lunar Capital, Kaiya cheerfully jumped up to Hiroko. She was wearing a black hat that she had found somewhere within the Lunar Capital, which covered the entirety of the top of her head with a ring that circled it. It had a red ribbon tied around it, and it was black in colour.

"Uhm, Kaiya? What happened here?" Hiroko asked, looking at Kaiya's new hat.

"I fought that Lunarian and decided that I should get a hat similar to hers, so I got a black one instead of a white one and instead of her pink ribbon, mine is red. I like it," Kaiya smiled as she held the side of her hat.

"Okay…" Hiroko said, her face still not changing from the confused look. "Anyway, what made you such a fashion freak?"

"Well, you showed me how everyone looks in Gensokyo, and judging by that Lunarian's look, it seems like hats are in fashion on this satellite on the planet. I can see why, they're comfy and fun to wear. Toyohime made me realise my look was outdated by now," Kaiya smiled, as Hiroko was even more confused.

"So… you mean to tell me you've always been a fashion freak? Except you've been confined in one city so you didn't know what was happening outside of that?" Hiroko asked.

Kaiya nodded. "Mhm! Back on my planet, before I went to Mars, I was always up to date with new looks. Although, this hat wearing trend seems to be the best one yet. I never thought of wearing a hat like this until now. Oh - don't worry Hiroko! You're ribbons and dress still look cute, you're still alright. No need for you to change," She said as she saw Hiroko's face shift a little.

"Didn't… plan to…" Hiroko said, still looking weirdly at Kaiya with new information about her character. "Anyway… you're aware we're all getting ready for big war, right?"

"Oh, yeah, I know about that," Kaiya said, smiling. "I don't like fighting that much, as you know, but it can't hurt to have more powerful people blending in with people in this Gensokyo when going up against so many foes. You've already got ribbons in your hair, but Kasumi, Saiko and Yorimi don't have anything on their heads. I'll have to take them all shopping some time soon."

"Yeah… you do that…" Hiroko said, nodding as she was still trying to get over Kaiya's new revelation. "Slowly but surely, with all these hats, we'll become more and more like the people down there…"

"That can't hurt, right?" Kaiya said, still smiling and cheerful as before. "Anyway, I just wanted to tell you about that. I'll go now," she said as she left the room, leaving Hiroko alone again.

"The second strongest person from Mars genuinely just charged in my room to talk to me about her hat..." Hiroko muttered to herself. "Can't say nothing… interesting… happened today."

 ***Spell Card!* Character Insight!**

 **Kogasa Tatara: A Karakasa Obake where both the girl and umbrella are considered as one entity, and neither of them are separable from the other. She makes job out of surprising people wherever she goes, whether it be Myouren Temple, Human Village or anywhere else in Gensokyo. Unlike most other youkai, however, she does not need to eat humans to survive. Instead, the spirit gained from surprising them keeps her filled. She is often a cheerful youkai, however when she fails to surprise someone (which is often) she easily gets depressed.**

 **Byakuren Hijiri: A buddhist monk who believes that youkais, humans and all beings should be at peace with each other rather than be in conflict. She is kind to both humans and youkai, however these actions may cause some humans to avoid her and Myouren Temple due to the everlasting conflict between humans and youkai. As a monk and magician, she has the ability to use magic, however she specialises in physical enhancement magic, such as being able to increase her speed drastically, to a point where she can outrun Reimu Hakurei's 'Fantasy Seal'.**

 **Nue Houjuu: Similar to Kogasa Tatara, Nue Houjuu also makes an occupation out of scaring people, using the fear of the unknown as well as the fear of her true form. Nue is a mischievous girl who enjoys malicious pranks, however reacts badly when anyone finds out her true form. To accompany this wanting to stay unidentified, she has the ability to make anything unidentifiable. Using this ability, she often keeps herself wrapped in a ball of light to stay undetected by people.**

 **Sanae Kochiya: A human shrine maiden, however is also a distant descendant of Suwako Moriya, the goddess to which the shrine she serves was originally owned by. Sanae is confident, dutiful as well as energetic at most times. Unlike most shrine maidens and people close to gods, she is a very scientific person, much like Kanako Yasaka. She also enjoys seeing herself as the hero of a fantasy novel or game. Like Reimu, she has the ability to summon gods to help her, however she can only summon Kanako and Suwako. She also has the ability to make miracles occur.**

 **Kanako Yasaka: The goddess of wind and rain. Long ago, Kanako and Suwako got into a war which eventually ended in Kanako's victory over Suwako, making the Moriya Shrine now technically owned by her. She is an ambitious woman, treating religion as a business, where the profit is more faith. Unlike most gods, however, she encourages scientific progress and demands little formalities in her worship. She has the ability to summon wind and rain, which she does so to help grant a good harvest for humans, gathering faith. Suwako and her have also been sighted altering the terrain.**

 **Suwako Moriya: The goddess of mountains. Contrasting to Kanako, Suwako is much more laid back and mischievous. However, she is potentially just as capable of scheming as Kanako is. Long ago, she lost a war against Kanako, and lost her shrine to the god of wind and rain in the process. She has the ability to create earthiness, which allows her to 'swim' through the ground, as well as create magma and geysers, which is likely how she contributes in altering the terrain. Her hat also resembles a frog, causing some people to mistake her as the 'frog god'.**


	11. Warning the Residents 3! - God Summoning

**(Author's note: Apologies for the late update. I was busy around last weekend as well as around this week with school stuff.)**

"Oh, well if it isn't Yukari," Yuyuko said as she looked up towards the entrance to Hakugyokurou, as Yukari slid open the door and walked in, with Youmu Konpaku close behind her, slipping through with food on a tray, which she set down for Yuyuko to eat. "What brings you here looking so serious?" Yuyuko asked, immediately taking a random item of food from the tray and eating it in one bite.

"Well, long story short," Yukari said, taking a seat at the low table with Yuyuko on the other end, as Youmu sat next to Yuyuko. "There's a threat coming onto Gensokyo. A threat that, if left unchecked for too long, could result in it being far more dangerous than the Lunarians could be."

"Oh, that certainly is something to be serious about," Yuyuko said. "So, what would you like the two of us to do?"

"The two of you will be pivotal members in our defence," Yukari said, looking at Yuyuko as she ate something else from the plate. "That is to say, if and when an attack from them occurs, the two of you will use my manipulation of boundaries power to be transported to Mars. I would be too quickly recognised, even with the passing of time and low population at the time. I already had Chen steal a book about the history of Mars from the Martians, so the two of you will steal something else."

"And that is?" Youmu asked, before being stopped by Yuyuko.

"Youmu, let her finish," Yuyuko said, as Youmu nodded and looked down. "And that is?"

Yukari narrowed her eyes, looking down at the table as well. "I'm not sure, but there should be something there. I watched the fight between the Martians and the Lunarians, and one of the Martians exerted power that we have never seen before. To be able to overpower the Lunarians god like that must require some sort of power source, which is what I want you to get rid of. As long as she is out of the equation, I believe we stand a good chance of winning."

"So we're stealing something that you don't even know exists?" Youmu asked, as her eyes widened slightly. "Lady Yukari, I-I'm not sure if this would be particularly beneficial."

"I'm almost certain there is something, and i'm also almost certain I know where it would be situated," Yukari said, looking over to Youmu, before back at Yuyuko. "The girl I was speaking of previously used a deck of cards, which were of the same four suits and the same values we know. However, they seemed to have magical energy. Magical energy that she did not seem to be exerting, as she never showed herself to be capable of magic. If there is something fueling the magical abilities, then it would be on one of, if not, both of Mars' moons. And if worst comes to worst, i'm sure there would still be something on those moons, as there is with our moon."

"I see," Yuyuko said, eating another item of food in one bite. "So, you plan to have us weaken their most powerful player, if possible. That would be beneficial indeed. So, Youmu, when the time comes, let's split ourselves up."

"Y-yes, Master Yuyuko…" Youmu sighed, closing her eyes.

"And if we find nothing, then i'm sure Yukari will let us come back immediately, right?" Yuyuko said, to which Yukari nodded. "So even if there is nothing there, we'll still be contributing to defending Gensokyo. And if there is something there, i'm interested in what Martian food would taste like…"

"Thank you, the two of you," Yukari said, standing up. "Now, if you'd excuse me. There's someone else I need to pay a visit to before I prepare myself."

As she said that, Yukari walked through one of her gaps, disappearing from the Netherworld and Hakugyokurou. Yuyuko turned to Youmu.

"Youmu, do you agree with what Yukari said?" She asked her, to which Youmu quickly nodded. Yuyuko then nodded slowly afterwards. "I see. So, it seems there is a possibility there is something on the moons of Mars."

Yukari emerged from her gap, as the person on the other end of it jumped in surprise. There was someone else with her, however, who was also surprised.

"Oh, how ironic," Kogasa said, as a tear welled up in her eye. "The youkai who is supposed to surprise people got surprised by someone. Nue even got more surprised with you than me…"

"I'm not here for you," Yukari said to Kogasa, as Kogasa began sobbing even more.

"Oh, not only do you steal my job in your world, but you say there's no point in me being here to do it! I thought the creator's of Gensokyo would be nice but… you're mean Yukari!"

"If you're not here for Kogasa," Nue said, also ignoring Kogasa as Yukari did. "Then that means you're here for me, right?"

"Yes, I am," Yukari said, as Kogasa fell to the ground, sobbing. "You're ability is to make anything unidentifiable, right?"

"It's… specifically objects, why?" Nue said, tilting her head in a questioning manner.

"Ah, I see," Yukari said, as she sighed in slight disappointment. "I was going to ask if you could make the whole of Gensokyo unidentifiable as a defence against what's to come."

"N-no can do, not right now at least," Nue staggered on her words, not used to hearing such an important request for her. "This is about the Martian's, right?"

"Oh, I see Reimu has already been, rather surprising for someone like her."

"Oh, no it was Marisa." Nue informed.

"That makes a lot more sense."

"But, if you want me to carry out such an important operation for you… i'll see what else I can do," Nue said, which made Yukari nod.

"I understand, I wish you luck with what you plan to do. Sorry for the intrusion," Yukari said, walking back through her gap.

"Yeah! You better be sorry for surprising me and proving that i'm worthless!" Kogasa sobbed, reaching out to the gap as it closed.

"What's going on here?" Yorimi asked as she walked over, looking around.

"Gah!" Nue said, before looking down in disappointment. "What is it with people finding my true form so easily today… first Marisa called me out on it, then Yukari got the jump on me and now you did the same."

"Your… true form?" Yorimi asked, tilting her head before snapping her fingers. "Aha! You're that weird glowing ball of light from before, aren't you?"

"I don't want to talk to you," Nue said, biting her lip. "I don't like people who unfairly see me like this. Besides, I have important job to do from someone much more important than some newbie youkai. Come on Kogasa, let's leave her now."

"Okay, Nue…" Kogasa said, walking way with Nue, before turning around to Yorimi. "Thank you for being surprised by me, Miss Kawakami!"

"You're… welcome?" Yorimi said, not knowing how to react as the two walked away.

"An important job, huh? Yukari, no doubt," Hiroko said through the earchip.

"She's that youkai of boundaries, right?" Yorimi said, looking out to new places to go. "She seems like she'll be quite the troublesome opponent, huh?"

"Indeed," Hiroko said, seemingly rushing to get to a new point. "Also, Kaiya has long hair now. And she's wearing a hat."

"Oh…" Yorimi said, as she trailed off in thought thinking about it, before shaking herself out of it. "I think i'll go to that flower field now. I like the nature, and we can decide where to go after that."

"Can't you… fly?" Hiroko said, sighing as Yorimi began walking at a normal pace. Nue and Kogasa had flew off into the distance. "It would make this a lot faster."

"Well, I suppose we have walked this way before," Yorimi said, as her feet hovered off the ground. "Although, after this I will walk around. I enjoy the scenic options when discovering new places."

"Whatever you say…" Hiroko sighed.

After that, Yorimi flew over to the outskirts of the flower fields and landed back down within twenty minutes, being careful with her flight speed as to not cause a sonic boom that would attract too much attention. She walked into the flower field, looking around at the sunflowers that stretched out much higher than her. She smiled as she looked around at them, reaching her hand out to one of them before being stopped.

"Please don't touch the flowers," Yuuka said, walking towards Yorimi with her parasol behind her, as she smiled trying to greet her. However, her smile managed to set Yorimi slightly on edge.

"Ah - I-I'm sorry," Yorimi said, panicking as she saw Yuuka. "Is this your flower field?"

"Yes, indeed it is," Yuuka said. "I'm Yuuka Kazami, Youkai of Flowers. Nice to meet you."

"...Yorimi Kawakami, Youkai of Materials," Yorimi said, still slightly on edge from Yuuka's appearance. "I'm new here, so I'm sightseeing."

"Ah, that's fine then," Yuuka said, lowering her parasol as she nodded towards Yorimi. "You came from the Myouren Temple over there, yes? I saw Marisa flying in and out earlier, and it appears a ball of light flew away with some other Youkai recently. Is something happening at Myouren Temple?"

Yorimi's body froze for a second, as she saw Yuuka's smile and remembered that she is also a Martian here to gather information. She loosened her muscles and coughed a little. "I stayed at Myouren temple for a bit, but I was inside when the magician got there, so I don't know about anything in particular happening around there right now. I'm new, as you know…"

"Ah, that's fine," Yuuka said, lifting her parasol back over her head. "I'll just have to ask Marisa about it later. If there is anything important, I don't want to miss it. Anyway, enjoy your stay here. Feel free to take a souvenir if you find anything lying around, since I probably won't need it." She said, as she walked away towards the center of the field.

"I… think i'd rather stay away from here for the time being," Yorimi said, walking out of the flower field before something caught her eye. She knelt down and picked up the top of a small, yellow flower that seemed to have lost its stem. "Oh dear, it seems the stem was recently cut. Must have been a mistake by someone…" Yorimi said, before fixing the flower into the top of her hair, slightly to the side. "I think i'd rather give it a new home. No use leaving it here for no reason."

"Dear any god that may exist, please save us Martians before we all become obsessed with wearing things on our heads. Thanks, Hiroko," Hiroko said through the chip, as she appeared slightly annoyed on the other end. "There's two of you gone to the dark side… don't tell me you want to keep up with the latest trends as well."

"Oh, no no," Yorimi assured as she stepped out of the field. "Flowers are life as well, so leaving it to die for no reason wouldn't do any good, now would it? All life should be treated like that, so I'm taking this flower on a journey with me."

"Right…" Hiroko sighed over the chip, as she left the conversation on that note.

Meanwhile, on Mars, Kasumi was steadying her breath and heartbeat, holding her sword in front of her. Saiko was leaning against the wall, watching as Kasumi attempted to summon something of god like powers. Energy began radiating from her, as a foggy image began to take shape in front of her. Saiko arched a brow in interest. The foggy image began to materialize, as Kasumi began breathing more heavily as sweat began dripping down her face. Eventually, the foggy image became a real, humanoid girl with a red dress, as well as a red headband. The colours matched Kasumi's own hair, as the girl created had a lighter shade of red in hair colour.

Kasumi caught her breath, before looking at her creation. "So… you're the one who was summoned as my god-like familiar, huh?" She said looking at it in the eye. "Interesting… so knowing I have this ability should help in beating that god-summoner."

"Master," the familiar said, closing its eyes. "It appears as though you're in peril over some sort of event connected to someone you met. You summoned me to help take care of that, right?"

"Yes, of course," Kasumi said, slightly surprised at its ability to speak. "Do you have a name? Or should I give you one?"

"Hmm… call me Jitia," she said, looking down at the one who summoned her. "Apologies if you disagree with the name. It was merely something that sprung to mind."

"I'm Kasumi Tadeyuki, nice to meet you Jitia," Kasumi said, before picking up an earpiece and placing it in her ear. "Hello, could you come over here for a second?"

Kaiya appeared inside the training room, facing away from Jitia and towards Kasumi. "What do you want?"

"What's with the… new loo- never mind," Kasumi said, shaking he head as she finished speaking. "Could you teleport Jitia and I over to Gensokyo. I need to pay the God Summoner a visit."

"Uh… no…" Kaiya said, looking at Kasumi, then towards Jitia. "Hiroko's orders. Only person permitted in Gensokyo right now is Yorimi because she's spying for us. Everyone else is supposed to be getting ready, not summoning play things."

"I made a god," Kasumi said, smiling. "Not a plaything. Here, i'll show you if you want."

Kaiya narrowed her eyes, before sighing in a slight bit of annoyance. "I don't care if you summoned someone with ridiculous god like potential, we all agreed that Hiroko is the highest of all of us… not in size obviously… so we all have to listen to her. Even then, i'm still higher than you and no means no. Keep training with your plaything, k?" Kaiya smiled, holding onto her hat.

"Tch, whatever," Kasumi said as Kaiya teleported out of the room. "Saiko, look after the city."

"Where are you going?" Saiko asked, looking over at Kasumi. Kasumi smiled as she opened the door, turning her head around to face Saiko.

"If Kaiya won't do it, we will. C'mon, Jitia. We'll go the manual way," Kasumi smiled as she walked out of the door, Jitia in tow.

 ***Spell Card!* Character Insight!**

 **Yuyuko Saigyouji: YuIs the ghost of a girl who now resides within the Netherworld. A long time ago, when Yuyuko was still alive, she commited suicide over grief from her power, which led to Yukari, who was her friend at the time, to manipulate the boundary of life and death in order to reanimate her as a ghost, who now resides in Hakugyokurou in the Netherworld. Her ability is to invoke death upon any living being, however she rarely uses it, if ever, due to the nature of it. She can also manipulate the souls of the dead.**

 **Youmu Konpaku: Youmu is the gardener of Hakugyokurou and also serves as a sort of servant to Yuyuko. As well as this, Youmu has a half-phantom side that follows her around, meaning she is a half-human, half-phantom. She is straightforward and diligent, often being manipulated by those around her and especially Yuyuko. She is afraid of ghosts despite her species, however is much more calm around phantoms. She has the ability to handle sword techniques, being able to draw her sword and swing it at speeds reaching Mach 70.**

 **Yuuka Kazami: One of the oldest and strongest Youkai in Gensokyo, Yuuka Kazami spends most of her days in the flower field named 'The Garden of the Sun'. She also often visits the human village, where the flower shop owned mentions she gives proper greetings. It is said that the older a youkai becomes, the more polite they are, after all. However, there was once an anonymous reporter who said her 'smile was scary'. Despite being one of the strongest youkai, she is a flower youkai, making her ability the ability to manipulate flowers. As well as this, Yuuka appears to be the originator of the 'Master Spark' spell, most often used by Marisa Kirisame.**


	12. Eirin's Danmaku Training! - Nue's plan!

Outside of Eientei, Yorihime and Eirin were training with each other, as Toyohime watched while smiling on the ground. They both seemed in the middle of the heat of the battle, as Yorihime constantly attempted to close the gap between the two whilst Eirin simply dodged away, successfully keeping Yorihime away from her and at a distance. "Try and find an easier way to close the gap between you and your opponent, Yorihime," Eirin said, firing an arrow with impressive accuracy considering the bullets that were all over both of their vision, forcing Yorihime to move to the side and almost get hit directly by another of Eirin's bullets. "If you keep getting forced back, find a new, inventive way to get through. Remember, no using your powers just yet. Getting used to fighting without them will, in turn, increase your abilities with them."

"Right," Yorihime nodded, looking around as she weaved in and out of different bullets, before flying through an opening to get behind Eirin. She found a way through the bullets, approaching Eirin's back as she turned around, firing a bullet with incredible accuracy to halt Yorihime in her tracks. However, Yorihime smiled to herself as her sword connected with it, launching it off in the distance and allowing her to reach Eirin, swinging her sword down as the Lunarian Sage raised her bow to block it.

"Well done," Eirin said, using her free hand to load her bow with and arrow, facing it directly towards Yorihime's chest as she quickly backed away, moving to dodge the arrow. However, she found herself being forced down towards the ground by Eirin's attacks as she moved above Yorihime. When the sister's feet hit the ground, spirits began to circle her, before locking her in and trapping her on the ground as the fire stopped.

"Astronomical Entombing," Eirin said, as Yorihime was locked in a small space with no immediate way out. Reisen hopped over and landed next to Toyohime, to which Toyohime took note of her presence, turning around to smile at her.

"Hey, Reisen," Toyohime said, before her eyes looked over to the cage that surrounded Yorihime. "We're training with Lady Yagokoro right now. She might let you join in, after all, it is an important scenario that is coming up."

"Oh, i've already asked Master Kaguya if she would help me," Reisen said, looking over to the fight as well. "I… I thought the three of you would be too busy training together, and that Kaguya was free."

"Oh, I see," Toyohime said, holding her fan over her mouth. "That's fine then."

Eirin shot out a large bullet, connecting with parts of the cage which released more bullets outwards, as well as into the enclosed space that Yorihime had to dodge through. Eventually, as more bullets from the cage Yorihime found herself surrounded on all sides, with no immediate escape from the barrage of bullets that connected with her. She also couldn't find herself the ability to move to destroy the spirits with her sword, forcing her to raise her left hand to face the left side of the cage. She released a stream of bullets towards that side, which destroyed the spirits, creating an opening for her escape. As well as this, it stopped the bullets coming from those spirits, which allowed her to quickly fly out of the cage and up towards Eirin, who cancelled the spell and raised her hand to stop Yorihime in her tracks. Yorihime stopped in the middle of the air, a little beaten up from the Astronomical Entombment spell.

"It appears you started to easily absorb the concept of danmaku at the end there," Eirin said, with a smile on her face. "Back on the moon, you had no need to learn how to use danmaku attacks as your sword skills and ability were enough to pull you through. However, the more abilities of attack you learn, the better a fighter you will become. Especially with this oncoming threat, going from simple danmaku as you used there to more complex danmaku patterns will be beneficial against stronger opponents. That's enough for you right now, so you can learn how to use danmaku more effectively along with sword skills in your spare time."

"Yes, Lady Yagokoro," Yorihime nodded, floating back down towards the ground. Eirin's eyes darted towards Toyohime.

"Now, Toyohime. It's you tur-" She said, as Toyohime perked up and bit her lip slightly. However, she was cut off by Kaguya's entrance. "Lady Kaguya, i'm sorry if we woke you."

"Must you be so noisy so early in the morning…" Kaguya said, rubbing her eyes as the tone of her voice showed she had recently woke up.

"Lady Kaguya, it's three o'clock in the afternoon," Eirin said, sighing.

"Ah, I see…" Kaguya said, before yawning. "I'll go get ready for the day… Eirin, you have a customer."

"Ah," Eirin said, as her face turned to one of surprise. "My apologies, girls, I should go tend to this," she said as she flew back down to Eientei. Toyohime sighed in relief as Eirin went away.

"Looks like I got lucky, huh?" Toyohime said to Yorihime, who was still stretching off her fight with Eirin. "No danmaku training for me! Now i'll get to focus on the parts I am good at."

"Toyohime…" Yorihime said, narrowing her eyes at her sister. "You'll find it hard to beat that martian person if you don't learn new ways to attack them."

"Well, I guess you're right," Toyohime said, before smiling. "But knowing my luck, next time I won't get her as my opponent. Then i'll be able to beat whoever I go up against." after she said this, Yorihime sighed at her sister's egotistical attitude as she noticed Kaguya walk over to Reisen.

"Come on, Reisen… you have to train hard with me as well…" the Lunarian Princess said, yawning as Reisen nodded.

"Yes, master Kaguya," She said, walking away with Kaguya after waving a happy goodbye to the sisters. It had appeared she had began to get used to having them around also.

Eirin came into Eientei and stood behind the counter, looking around at the store. ' _Lady Kaguya said I had a customer but… they must have already left after the wait,'_ She thought, before sitting down at the counter. ' _In case anyone else comes, i'd best look out here. I'm sure the two of them will do training on their own for the time being.'_

"Boo!" Kogasa said, leaping up from behind the counter in an attempt to surprise Eirin, who gave a questioning gaze at the umbrella youkai.

"Ah? I don't recall seeing you here before. Why were you hiding there?" Eirin asked Kogasa, who quickly turned to a disappointed face.

"Auu, every time I meet a new person they're never surprised by me…" Kogasa said, as she slumped against the desk in a defeated manner. "I guess yesterday must have been a lucky break… Marisa even said if I could surprise that person then it would only be because of luck…"

"Marisa's words are really not something to latch onto…" Eirin sighed, scratching her head a little in confusion about Kogasa's nature. "Although… if it's what you're looking for, it did surprise me to have a customer today of all days, especially with what seems to be on the horizon."

"Eh? Really!?" Kogasa asked, as her face brightened up again. "Yay! I surprised a really strong person today! I'll stay full for a long time now!"

"Ah - ha, I see…" Eirin said, still confused about Kogasa's nature. "Anyway, what is it that you came for, again?"

"Oh, yes," Kogasa said, scrambling to remember why she came to Eientei in the first place. "Let's see… oh, yes! Do you have a medicine that let's someone see an object for exactly what it is, no matter what? Oh, and we need it in high quantities!"

"What's this about?" Eirin said, puzzled as to the order she was given as well.

"Well… my friend has the ability to make objects unidentifiable, and Miss Yukari tasked her with making Gensokyo unidentifiable from the Martians," Kogasa said. "She couldn't make the whole of Gensokyo turn that way, but she figured that if she went around and turned every single tree and house unidentifiable then when they invade, they'll have no idea what everything is and be confused! Then, afterwards, we'd be able to exploit their confusion and surprise attack them, easily winning!"

"Hm, that plan does seem helpful," Eirin nodded, as she thought about what she could do. "You need this drug for everybody in Gensokyo to make sure they still see Gensokyo for what it is. That's a tall order. Can I have a demonstration of how this ability works, please?"

"O-oh, okay!" Kogasa said, cheerfully walking out the door and calling Nue to come inside, before walking back in with Nue's floating orb next to her. "This is my friend, she prefers staying like that rather than using her real form. So, we need an object for you to test."

Eirin nodded, reaching beneath the counter and bringing out a glass, before placing it on the table. "Is there anything else?"

"I don't think so," Kogasa smiled, as Nue sighed through her orb form.

"Kogasa, everything becomes unidentifiable because everyone sees it as a different object," Nue said, floating around a little. "So, both of you will see it as something different. I'd assume that would be important information."

"Oh- I forgot," Kogasa sighed, twirling her umbrella slightly as Nue used her powers on the glass, making it unidentifiable.

"I see a fuzzy mess of lines…" Kogasa said, to which Eirin shook her head in disagreement.

"I see some sort of static like arrangement," Eirin said, before reaching out to grab it. She felt the glass as a normal glass, rather than whatever it had been made to look like. "Ah, so it is only unidentified to the eye, not to the touch," she said. "This shouldn't be too difficult. It's just a simple case of making a drug that affects people's eyesight. Although, with the drugs affects, you won't be able to conceal yourself from anyone either."

"I thought about that…" Nue said with a sigh in her voice. "I'll just stay really high in the air and hide around to make sure nobody sees me. So, we'll need about two hundred, just to be on the safe side. I've heard someone called Keine can conceal the human village, so we don't need to account for those humans."

"Indeed," Eirin nodded, as she got to work behind the counter. "Come back in about two hours, and I should have everything completed with how large the dose sizes should be. In that time, you can tell everyone about what is happening."

"Right!" Kogasa said, twirling around as she walked out of Eientei.

"Thank you, Miss Yagokoro," Nue said, as she also floated out of the door, leaving Eirin alone to work out her new drug in development would function.

Outside of Eientei, Nue stopped, causing Kogasa to stop also and look around at her. "Kogasa, you go around the place telling everyone about the plan. I'll go to the Human Village to meet this 'Keine' person and have her use whatever her power is to keep the human village safe."

"Oh, right!" Kogasa said, smiling as she slowly hovered away. "There'll be lots of people to surprise out there! Thanks, Nue!" She said, flying off towards the Forest of Magic.

As Kogasa flew off, Alice walked through the bamboo forest and towards Eientei, looking up as the glowing ball flew away. She sighed, as she opened the door. Eirin immediately perked up from her job.

"Ah, another customer. Appears we're busier than I expected today," Eirin said, as Alice nodded, taking a seat at the counter.

"I'm just here to get some more gunpowder for my dolls," Alice said, as she showed a doll that appeared completed to Eirin, however had a slight opening for gunpowder to be put into. "I ran out while preparing extra, backup dolls for the invasion. Marisa's been bugging me to train with her as well, so the earlier I have this job done, the earlier I can practice my skills against her."

"Ah, I see," Eirin said, standing up to look for gunpowder. "I just had two other visitors, in fact. One of them had the power to make objects unidentifiable, so she's planning to do that to all the trees, houses and shrines in Gensokyo. I'm creating a new drug for everyone that will have their eyes be unaffected, so they see Gensokyo normally whereas the Martian's do not."

"Ah, that would be Nue, most likely with Kogasa," Alice said, placing her doll on the counter. "Marisa told me about them."

"I did hear the name Kogasa," Eirin said, as she took some gunpowder out of a cabinet. "It's a pretty good idea, to give them credit. When they arrive here, they should be confused as to what everything is, letting us take the upper hand."

"It does seem that way," Alice said, nodding. "And with everyone preparing, it seems there's a high likelihood of us winning, unless the Martian's are truly that powerful. Even Yuuka Kazami is getting ready now. She heard from someone that Marisa was telling people about it, so she came asking what it was about. She said it's a perfect opportunity to test some 'Ultimate Magic' she was talking about. I have no idea what it is."

"I see," Eirin said, putting a rather large container of Gunpowder on the counter for Alice. "Yuuka is one of the most powerful youkai, i've heard. I must only assume the 'Ultimate Magic' is much stronger than many of the other things we could hit them with. Anyway, here you go. I gave you some extra this time given the circumstances."

"Thank you, Eirin," Alice said, taking the gunpowder as she stood up from her seat. "Good luck preparing for the invasion. If they beat Lunarian's like you, then i'd still rather you watch out."

"Good luck to you also," Eirin said, as Alice left Eientei. Afterwards, she got back to work preparing the drug for Nue and Kogasa.

 **(Author's Note: No 'Spell Card' thing at the end this time as no new characters were introduced, and I don't have anything to say about the Martian city at this current moment (It is late at night when i'm writing this, though.))**


	13. Plan in Progress! - Martian Failure?

A few hours afterwards, in Gensokyo, Nue had successfully warned Keine of the oncoming invasion, prompting her to use her abilities to conceal the human village in advance. Kogasa had spotted Alice leaving Eientei and towards the forest of magic, telling her to warn Marisa as she wished to avoid the toxic fumes in the forest. Reimu seemed slightly bothered by Kogasa's appearance halting her training in the art of summoning gods, which wasn't helped out by the fact that Kogasa opted to sneak up on Reimu and surprise her. Remilia, along with the other members of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, appeared open to the idea, despite Remilia's annoyance at the interruptance brought on by the umbrella Youkai. The tengu of the mountain, as well as the gods of the Moriya shrine along with Sanae, appeared to accept Nue's plan immediately, with Kanako in particular being quite frank about how 'it needs no warning if everyone will see it all perfectly fine in the end'.

Nue went into Eientei, in what she assumed was her unidentifiable state. Eirin, however, who was still behind the counter, had already taken her drug for testing that it worked.

"Aha, the drug must be in working condition," Eirin smiled, nodding to herself. "You wouldn't come running in here without concealing yourself with your power."

Nue narrowed her eyes slightly, sighing as she expected the result that had happened. Of course she would keep the drug for herself, choosing to test it on herself for the next time Nue came through the door. "Looks like everyone's getting to see my true form now…" Nue sighed, walking over to the counter as she looked around.

Eirin nodded, bringing up a container from beneath the counter and placing it on top of the counter. "Here it is. I made them small enough to fit in a container this size. I made an extra one hundred of them, just in case you manage to lose a few."

Nue nodded, picking up the container and looking inside it. "There… doesn't seem to be all that much in here."

"I made three batches of one hundred," Eirin said. "I sent two of the batches off with the two girls i'm training currently, to give them something to do. They're already out giving the drug out to people. My plan was for your friend to take this third batch so you could focus solely on making everything unidentifiable. It appears she hasn't finished her original job, though…"

Nue shook her head, turning around to walk out of Eientei. "She's probably spending more time coming up with plans to surprise everyone in Gensokyo. I'll manage giving out the drugs first, until I run into Kogasa again. It might take a while, though."

"Well, that _is_ an extra one hundred," Eirin said, nodding as Nue began walking away. "So long as the girls are managing to give everyone one of them, there should already be more than enough to go around."

"Right," Nue said, opening the door of Eientei. "It's still better to have three people going around, just in case." she said, flying out of Eientei.

Yorihime interrupted Reimu's training, flying down with the container in hand. Reimu staggered a little bit in surprise, before catching her breath quickly. "Well, if it isn't the shrine maiden from all the way back then. Trying to summon gods, I see."

Reimu seemed a little annoyed at the interruption, closing her eyes and breathing deeply to maintain composure. "I'm doing perfectly fine at it, thanks. Why are you here anyway? This is the second time this hour i've been interrupted by someone."

"Toyohime and I are delivering some of Eirin's new drug," Yorihime smiled, reaching into the container and tossing one over to Reimu, which she caught and looked at. "Makes sure... uh…"

"Nue Houjuu," Reimu continued the sentence, before continuing on her own. "A drug that always lets you see things for exactly what they are. Sounds kind of shady, if you ask me."

"Eirin took it for herself, and I took it a while ago. I promise there's no side effects. For us Lunarians, at least," Yorihime said, smiling as she added the final part in an almost insulting tone. "Perhaps it has side effects against impurity. Who knows until you try it?"

"I doubt Eirin would do that given the circumstances," Reimu said, tossing the pill into her mouth. Luckily Eirin managed to make it small enough to where water wouldn't be needed to swallow it down whole, allowing it to be easily taken in by anyone.

"The main part of the drug should sink into your bloodstream and reach your eyes within minutes. When it does, well, the drugs effect should kick in and your eyes will be enhanced to where nothing is hidden from you," Yorihime explained, smiling. "Anyway, I should go now. If you ever want to learn how to summon god spirits properly, i'll be at Eientei."

"I don't need your help," Reimu shouted as Yorihime flew away, seemingly ignoring the shrine maiden. Watching the lunarian fly off, a fast blur zipped across the sky as a newspaper floated down. Reimu picked it, reading the headline. 'Possible invasion of Gensokyo? Yukari readies all forces! Could this be the time where all Gensokyo residents work in harmony?'

"You're behind on the news…" Reimu shook her head, throwing he newspaper away as it drifted off in the breeze that began to whip up.

Yorimi looked up from the center of a field she was stood in as Yorihime flew away from the forest of magic. "A lot of people seem to be flying around everywhere now…" she said into the ear chip. "How long do you think will be safe here?"

"Not long," Hiroko replied through the chip. "I thought they'd catch on to us quickly, but mobilizing a strategy like what Kogasa told us about before within a day was quicker than expected. Besides, I don't know how long we can stay under Yukari's radar."

"That's true…" Yorimi replied back, rustling her hand through her hair as she felt the flower head between her fingertips. "It was short lived, but Gensokyo was a nice place to explore."

"Excuse me," An unfamiliar voice said, grabbing Yorimi's attention. She appeared formal in her speech, unlike many of the other Youkai Yorimi was used to hearing from and speaking to. "You are miss Yorimi Kawakami, yes?"

Yorimi turned around, seeing a Youkai, fairly taller than her, looking down at her. She had golden hair with a similar colour in her eyes, and that colour was shared by her nine tails sprouting out from her lower back. "That's me… yes. Who are you?"

"I am the shikigami of Master Yukari, Ran Yakumo," Ran said, as her hands were tucked neatly into her sleeves in a fashion that made her appear cross-armed. "I must ask you to leave Gensokyo now. Master Yukari's orders."

"..." Yorimi appeared speechless, as no voice came through in her earchip. "...How did you find me out?"

"Master Yukari sent a crow familiar to Mars with our cat, Chen, who was gathering intel on you," Ran explained, still appearing in her composed and formal manner. "With that intel came a book. Your history book, I believe. Your name is noted down in there, as well as your powers. News travels fast in Gensokyo, even to us. If anything strange is seen, it goes straight to Master Yukari. Marisa Kirisame, the magician you met at Myouren Temple, told Reimu Hakurei about you. Reimu Hakurei is the one currently in hand with your history book, and therefore she knew your name and reported it to Master Yukari. She spoke to Nue Houjuu, and upon returning, sent me to monitor what her plan was as well as looking for you."

Yorimi seemed surprised, impressed by the co-ordination they used in order to find her. "Well… appears there's no use staying around here now. I guess I should have used a different name rather than my real one."

"I don't think there would be much difference," Ran said, confident in her masters ability to receive notice about events in Gensokyo.

"No point in staying around now," Yorimi smiled, holding the flower in her hair. "Nice meeting you, Ran Yakumo. Give Yukari my regards for making such an impressive place with all these different people." she said, as she disappeared, presumably thanks to Kaiya's powers.

Ran nodded as she left, hovering off the ground and looking up north, where Yorihime had recently left Hakurei Shrine and Aya Shameimaru flew over it, dropping the news paper down. Nue flew out of Eientei, flying straight across the rode and over the human village, towards the Scarlet Devil Mansion and Moriya Shrine. "Everything seems to be going well…" Ran muttered to herself. "Now… where's the other sister?"

"Well if it isn't that fox from all that time ago," Toyohime said, behind Ran, causing her to look around. "I just headed to that flower field and the temple down there, handing out these helpful drugs to those people. You're here without Yukari?"

"I'm here on a mission from her," Ran said, looking at the container as it appeared to be about one tenth empty. "There was a Martian spy here, so I took care of her and sent her back to where she came from. I'm also monitoring progress on Nue's plan."

"I see," Toyohime said, narrowing her eyes and frowning slightly. "The way you speak is awfully boring. I assume you'll need one of these as well, yes?"

"Three," Ran said, ignoring Toyohime's insult and flying towards her with her palm open. "One for me, one for Master Yukari and one for my own Shikigami."

"A Shikigami with a Shikigami?" Toyohime said, tilting her head in surprise. "That's not something you see every day. Anyway, here you go, fox lady. Tell Yukari that this Nue person comes up with better plans than her's to take over the moon." Toyohime smiled, as she dropped three of the pills into Ran's hand. Ran didn't seem to be amused by Toyohime's last comment.

"It was originally Master Yukari's plan to use Nue Houjuu's powers to conceal Gensokyo, however she had a different method of it," Ran informed, to which Toyohime seemingly ignored.

"Right…" Toyohime nodded, before flying above Ran. "Well, make sure to relay my message. Bye, fox lady." she said, flying towards Moriya Shrine. Ran shrugged off the entire encounter, hovering higher to keep watch on what everyone was doing.

Meanwhile, within the Lunar Capital, Yorimi sat down in a room with Kaiya and Hiroko, the latter of which seemingly going over what the Martians had learnt from Yorimi's visit. Yorimi appeared relaxed, as Kaiya seemed to immediately note the flower in her hair, mentioning how it 'suits her'.

"Ahem," Kaiya broke the awkward silence of the room, raising her hand over he mouth as she did so. "So, it appears our spying failed. Oh, and, Hiroko," Kaiya said, remembering something as she paused between each word she spoke. "I went to check on Saiko and Kasumi before. Kasumi left with that weird god thing of hers in some ship we had on the surface."

"You brought her back down, right?" Hiroko said, looking over notes she had written whilst listening in on the information from Gensokyo. Kaiya nodded proudly.

"Mhm. I used my ability to teleport her back down to our planet. Just thought i'd let you know about her trying to rush things, is all." She said, sitting back in her chair with her feet up as the room dived back down into silence again. "You know, Hiroko, i've been meaning to ask. How exactly did you beat that Tsukuyomi guy? I mean, it had to be you, right?"

Hiroko nodded, still refusing to face her as they spoke. "Yes, I did. I just used my powerful magic. Who did you think caused the magical aura on some of our objects on Mars? I needed to make sure nobody got them."

"Ah, that makes sense," Kaiya said, kicking her feet up on the table as she crossed them. "You could've let me fight him, you know? I wasn't doing much with Toyohime."

"If you fought him, you would likely have destroyed the moon in the process," Hiroko said, lifting up a piece of paper as she focused on something. "Besides, i've told you not to fight at full power before, remember? It's far too dangerous for yourself as well."

Kaiya hummed in boredom, looking up at the roof. "I didn't say I would've fought him like that. Just a simple fight is all. Toyohime wasn't much of a fight since my ability stopped anything she could do."

Hiroko nodded, placing the paper back down and stretching as she yawned. "Thanks, Yorimi. This helped a lot. Now we know about what their plan is thanks to Kogasa, as well as some stuff about some of the residents. Not sure how we'll combat a plan like that, though…"

"You're welcome," Yorimi said, standing up as she walked towards the door. "Glad to be helpful." she added, walking out of the room. Kaiya also stood up, walking around the room as well.

"So, Yorimi's exhausted her usefulness, not like there was too much of it," Kaiya said, smiling. "What's the next plan, Hiroko?"

 ***Spell Card!* World Insight!**

 **Certain things within the Invisible Martian City are surrounded by a magical aura, including the deck of cards Hiroko primarily uses in battle, as well as the door to Nuwa's chamber. This magical aura is to make sure that nobody messes with the important artifacts, or enters the chamber of Nuwa. The most notable of these magical objects does not reside within the city, however, but instead on the moons of Mars. On both of these moons is a tower emanating magical energy from the top, towards the invisible city. These towers are concealed by her magical energy, and the specifics of this makes it so the energy appears invisible along with the city. They work with one card in each, placed on the top floor of the tower, constantly receiving and releasing energy as the core of the process. This magic keeps the city invisible, as the card will never run out of magic due to the infinite loop created.**

 **Tower's card - The outside of the city, making it invisible - Nuwa's chamber - The deck of cards within the chamber.**

 **Afterwards, the deck of cards releases the magic back the same way to reach the card in the towers. Whenever the deck of cards is removed, however, the energy is taken from Nuwa herself, going up the shackles and out the same way towards the towers once again. This keeps the city invisible no matter what, unless one of either of the two cards is removed from the tower.**


	14. The Gensokyo Sages! - Accelerated Night?

Another day passed in Gensokyo. Nue's plan was finished, as it appeared all objects were now unidentifiable to everyone other than the residents of Gensokyo themselves, proven by Ran Yakumo, who volunteered to not take the drug until the plan had succeeded in order to make sure it all worked. Nue and Kogasa headed back to the Myouren temple, where Byakuren was waiting for them. She smiled upon their arrival, greeting them back.

"Welcome back," Byakuren said. "I hear your plan was successful. That must have boosted everyone's Morale across Gensokyo."

"It's the least I could do after Yukari asked something from me," Nue said, sighing as she appeared tired from the work. "Where is everyone, anyway? We've been the only one's at the temple since Marisa and that new Youkai came here."

"Oh, I guess you didn't run into her then," Byakuren said, smiling still. "Nazrin, Shou, Murasa, Ichirin and Mamizou all went off somewhere to make a replica of the Palanquin Ship they plan to use against the Martians. I'm not sure myself how much it will help, but Murasa seemed ecstatic at being the captain of a ship again after all these years."

"Hm? So even Shou and everyone is getting involved now?" Nue asked, tilting her head slightly. Byakuren nodded.

"Apparently. I don't know if she did it mainly out of desire to protect Gensokyo at all costs. Though, with Bishamonten being the god of warfare, it may have been his wishes for this to happen. Shou would be obligated to get involved, being his avatar."

"I guess that makes sense," Nue nodded, turning to Kogasa. "We'll go help her, then. I have a good idea where she might be, so we'll stay and help them out."

"Are you not overworked?" Byakuren said, jumping slightly in surprise. "You should rest for a bit first. I don't want you to wear yourself out working too much."

"We'll be fine, don't worry," Nue smiled, floating slightly off the ground. "Come on, Kogasa. Let's go help them."

"R-right!" Kogasa nodded, flying away with Nue. Byakuren reached out her hand slightly to try and stop them, before stopping and watching them leave. She held her hat in the wind that was created from them flying away at speed, as she continued to stare at the sky even after they left her eyesight.

' _If it is Bishamonten's wish for us to take a stand…'_ Byakuren thought to herself, letting her brain trail off in thought. ' _I may not have a choice but to help in battle.'_

Meanwhile, within a mansion on the Youkai Mountain, Komachi Onozuka paced around Kasen Ibaraki, her scythe over her shoulder as Kasen's eyes followed the shinigami around.

"You know," Komachi said, stopping in place as, judging only by a silhouette caused by the light shining through a window, a normal person would feel as if their death was around the corner. "For a sage of Gensokyo to take so long to make a move in the current conditions, they must be more slacking on their job than I am. What are you waiting for?"

Kasen stayed still, her heart wavering slightly before catching its normal beating pattern. She took a few seconds to say her answer. "I'm waiting. I hardly trust Yukari, and I haven't seen any proof for myself that there even is any Martians out there, yet alone on the moon. I understand the threat is there, but as it stands, Gensokyo is under no direct threat. I'll step in once they've arrived. I'm strong enough to fend for myself, after all."

Komachi lowered an eye, gripping her scythe tightly as, with one swift motion, she brought it around as it found a new place next to Kasen's neck. "Do you really think someone like Yukari would be making such a big deal out of this if it hasn't been confirmed? If you slacked off like this in such important times, only to lose against the Martians, you'd be judged by my boss rather harshly for that. You're lucky she didn't come here herself to lecture you."

"How did you find out I was a sage, anyway?" Kasen asked, seemingly avoiding what Komachi was saying.

"How can my boss judge people if she doesn't know about them first?" Komachi asked, smiling. "So, answer this question for me. What did you hope to achieve by not doing anything about this with your high rank of power?"

"All of Gensokyo is preparing for the fight," Kasen answered. "Extra help from me would be hardly necessary. The combined strengths of everyone here in Gensokyo should outmatch anything they can throw at us. As a sage myself, my power already outmatches most of them. Best case scenario for Gensokyo, i'll be roughly on par with everyone else by the time it actually happens."

Komachi smiled slightly, nudging her arm towards Kasen's neck, causing the blade to press against the side of it. Kasen gasped in surprise, clutching her chest before Komachi let out a laugh, swinging the scythe back over her shoulder. "Got you there, didn't I? Anyway, i'd advise you start making your move and get training. Oh, and make sure those Taoists are training as well, for me. I need a break." she said, walking out of the mansion, leaving Kasen alone. She stood up and watched as Komachi left the door completely open, going over to close it herself and catch her breath from Komachi's little prank.

In a world separate from Gensokyo, Yukari sat down on a chair at a table, her head resting on the top of her hands. Someone else walked in with some tea, before sitting across from Yukari and smiling.

"Fancy seeing you here after all this time," She said, taking a sip of her tea. "What brings you here after all this time?"

"Gensokyo is in danger," Yukari said, sighing. "As a sage of Gensokyo, I thought you would know that as well."

"Do you want my two servants?" Okina asked, tilting her head. "I'll be happy for you to take them off my hands for a while."

Yukari lowered her eyelids slightly, picking up her cup of tea and sipping it, before carefully placing it back down and lifting her head in a strong and impressive pose. "Okina, as a fellow sage of Gensokyo, I must ask you to help us defend it. They have power we haven't seen before, enough to beat the likes of Tsukuyomi and residents of the moon."

"Tsukuyomi?" Okina said, taken aback slightly by that reveal, placing her hand over her chest and losing all sense of composure. "A powerful god such as him losing? That is quite troublesome. Though, I believe it to be nothing that the grouped up forces of everyone in Gensokyo won't be able to handle."

Yukari darted her eyes away from Okina's slightly, out of nervousness mostly, or perhaps out of shame of what she was about to say. "Not just that, though. They managed to out-smart the lunarians and find a way to keep their city invisible and out of detection for who knows how long. With access to lunarian technology also, I dare say their feats may outshine my own intellect."

Okina paused for a moment, before bursting out in laughter. "You? The Yukari admitting someone might be more intelligent than her? Shapen up a little, will you? I understand the threat and will act accordingly, but you're no fun when you're not being Yukari."

"Huh?" Yukari said, perking her head up slightly, before letting out a long breath, smiling as she did so. "Right. The stress of the situation must be taking a toll on me a little."

Okina smiled, watching as Yukari regained her composure slightly. However, Yukari quickly stood up, causing Okina to open her mouth and widen her eyes a little bit. "Leaving so soon? Please, stick around a little longer. It'd be rude to leave an old friend after such a short conversation with us not seeing each other for a while. I think you might be going a little overkill with the preparations here. Everyone will get on perfectly fine, so you should stay and chat a little while."

Yukari stopped herself in her tracks, sighing as she sat back down in her chair. As the time passed, the conversation the two sages were having dragged onwards, for a surprising amount of time. Eventually, Yukari found herself getting up to leave, as Okina smiled, allowing her to walk away and back into the boundary of Gensokyo. When she left, Satono and Mai entered the room, as Okina stood up with a slightly more serious face on.

"Girls, prepare yourselves," Okina said, putting the chair underneath the table and walking towards the door that the two came through. "If what Yukari told me is true, then those people from the moon will soon realise that their best shot of winning against Gensokyo is striking as soon as possible."

"Master Okina," Satono said, slightly taken by surprise at what she was saying. "What do you mean?"

"People are threatening Gensokyo," Okina said. "Just to be absolutely safe, we're helping in the protection of it. I want the two of you to bring out everyone's latent potential in battle, give them an extra power boost to help defeat their opponents easier. Understand?"

"Y-yes…" Satono and Mai said simultaneously, as Okina left the room. The two of them looked confusingly at each other, seemingly still completely clueless as to what Okina was saying.

"Sakuya!" Remilia said, running over to the maid. "It's time to start training again! Come on, I want to beat all those Martians."

"Yes, Mistress," Sakuya said, looking a pocket watch. She watched the hands tick, creating a noise that killed the silence that the two of them fell into. The two of them felt urged to watch the time tick, listening to the sounds of the time ticking away, neither saying a word. The ticking engraved itself into their souls for two minutes, before Sakuya put the watch away and broke the silence. "Time is running out."

"Seems so," Remilia said, walking past Sakuya and into the courtyard. She looked at the moon rising, as their training typically only happened a night, allowing Remilia to fight at her full power without being shackled by the need to protect herself from the sunlight. Sakuya walked out also, standing next to her mistress as they watched the moon rise into full vision.

"So, Mistress," Sakuya said, breaking the silence once again. "Shall we?"

"No, Sakuya," Remilia said, raising her hand to tell her to stop. She lowered her eyebrows slightly and let out a deep breath. "Gensokyo's going to need some people awake for this night, right? You've noticed it as well."

Sakuya nodded, as they both waited outside in the courtyard, watching the moon.

"Eirin…" Kaguya said, walking into Eirin's room, where she was speaking with Yorihime and Toyohime. "Did you use a spell on the moon again?"

Eirin gasped in surprise, as she quickly ran out, running to the outside and looking up. The two sisters followed her, looking at the moon as well. "Of course. Waiting until night for this to happen…"

"The moon is moving quicker," Yorihime said, gasping as she watched.

"They changed the orbit of the moon so they could see Japan at night…" Eirin said, biting her lip slightly. "They wanted to get us quickly, at night so we're off guard. They had to change the moons orbit with a magic spell so it aligned with Japan, and in doing so, they planned to take us down at the perfect time."

Yorihime and Toyohime looked at each other, before nodding at each other. Kaguya walked out, looking at the moon with them. "Reisen's fast asleep… they're coming now, aren't they?" Eirin nodded, as the four of them fell into silence again.

"Kaguya!" another voice said, cutting them off as they all looked in the direction of the voice. Fujiwara no Mokou ran through the bamboo's, looking at Kaguya with an angry expression on her face. "What are you playing at? What did you do to the moon?"

Kaguya narrowed her eyes, as Mokou continued breathing heavily to catch her breath. "We did nothing…" Kaguya said, yawning. "The Martian's are about to invade."

"What!?" Mokou exclaimed, walking over to them. "So the only people her with connections to the moon didn't do anything?"

Eirin stepped between the two of them, cutting the two of and looking at Mokou. "Now is not the time for arguing. You may be the only other person awake right now, so you're working with us now. Three immortals should do well enough against them, as well as the two sisters. So the two of you should not be fighting at this time. Save it for after all this is over."

Mokou raised her index finger angrily at Eirin, before stopping herself and allowing herself to breath. "Right…" Mokou said, growling a little as she did so. Mokou and Kaguya looked at eachother past Eirin, before nodding begrudgingly at each other.

The rest of Gensokyo fell into complete silence. The last of the residents fell to sleep, with the exception of Remilia, Sakuya, Eirin, Kaguya, Mokou and the Watatsuki sisters. The last of which being Murasa Minamitsu, who was sat at the end of the now completed Palanquin Ship Mark Two, before falling asleep on the deck. The other people in her group were asleep within the ship, including Nue and Kogasa, who arrived to help them with making it. Even gods such as Kanako and Suwako figured the day must be over, turning in for the night with Sanae going to sleep straight after.

Even Yukari, Gensokyo's sworn protector, fell asleep inside the boundary of Gensokyo, along with Chen, who curled up next to her as the two of them were with each other. Ran Yakumo was the only one awake, but without the ability to get into Gensokyo without Yukari, she had no way to intervene.

Okina Matara, along with the two backup dancers, were still awake, however. They had come to Gensokyo, looking around at the unidentifiable mess. "What the hell is all this…" Okina said, her breath slowing as she looked at the static and mess of a blend of colours. Nothing she knew about Gensokyo was able to be recognised, causing her to panic a fair bit. Satono and Mai stood near each other, walking around in circles, as the two of them couldn't even see the main places they tend to visit when they head to Gensokyo. "Are we… too late?"

"No…" Mai said, catching Okina's attention as she looked over to the two of them. "Nothing is destroyed, it's all just… hidden. If it was destroyed, there would be rubble… right?"

Okina nodded at the fact, walking over to a mess of static colours, reaching her hand out and feeling whatever it was. She gripped what seemed to be a bit of bark, ripping it off and looking at it in her hand. It remained a mess of static that she couldn't even make out. "Must have been a tree…" She said, throwing it down on the floor. "You're right, Mai. Everything is just hidden… really well. I can't even make out something like the Hakurei Shrine," she said, looking over in the direction of the forest of magic and Hakurei Shrine, not being able to see anything she could recognise.

Within the hour, Gensokyo was much more active. However, it wasn't active with those who would normally be active within Gensokyo. The five ministries of the Martian City, floated above the entirety of Gensokyo, looking down and seeing what Okina had saw, not making out anything that Yorimi had seen before. Hiroko gave a signal for everyone to spread out to some place that she must have spoke to them about before. Along with them, an army of Martian's appeared on the ground, separated into five divisions headed by one of the ministers.

"It has begun," Eirin said, looking up to the center of Gensokyo. She noticed someone not moving, watching as the five others left, the one coming closer to them accompanied by someone else. "I'll handle the one up there, the rest of you find someone else," she said, flying upwards and passed Kasumi, along with Jitia.

"Hey!" Kasumi said, as Eirin flew passed her, annoyed at the fact that she was ignored. "How about you come back and fight me instead? She's nothing special, so come and fight me!"

"How about someone else," Yorihime said, floating up with her sword in her hand. Kasumi turned around, smiling as she saw Yorihime floating across from her. Yorihime smiled as Kasumi did to, slightly more sadistic than Yorihime's smile.

"Ah, glad you're awake," Kasumi said, showing a slight bit of her teeth. "Just the person I'd like to see here."

Eirin stopped in front of Hiroko, who looked over to the lunarian sage. "Based on what I feel from you, you must be the one who defeated Tsukuyomi, yes?" Eirin asked.

"Who are you…" Hiroko said, looking at Eirin's eyes. "I see. Relative of Tsukuyomi, correct? Eirin Yagokoro, the Brian of the Moon and Lunarian Sage."

Eirin nodded, bring her bow in front of her and placing an arrow in it. "You're the one who accelerated the speed of the moon, correct? Do you have any idea what catastrophes you may have caused?"

Hiroko turned her entire body around, floating above Eirin as she looked seriously down on her. "The moon controls Earth's tides, correct? The tides will have a time difference between them, and that's all I can think of. Other than accelerated night cycles, of course."

Eirin closed her eyes, raising her bow up to the leader of Mars. "That's not what I am referring to. The moon was tidally locked. People here on Earth only ever saw one side of the moon, and not the other one. That is where we built the Lunar Capital, and with an accelerated orbital time, the Lunar Capital will come into view from Earth. As I am still a sage of the moon, I can't allow that to happen. And I must stop the invasion of Gensokyo, along with get revenge for Tsukuyomi." Eirin said, narrowing her eye down to focus on where the arrow will land. "Prepare yourself." she said, as the arrow was released from the bow.

 ***Spell Card!* Character Insight!**

 **Komachi Onozuka: A shinigami who tends to slack on her job a lot. She was placed in charge of keeping an eye on Kasen Ibaraki, making sure she stays in check and doesn't do anything fishy. The two share an antagonistic rivalry with each other, where the two distrust each other. She is also the person who ferries souls into the Yama. She has the ability to manipulate distance, allowing her to manipulate the space between her and the place she is heading to.**

 **Kasen Ibaraki: A sage of Gensokyo along with Yukari Yakumo and Okina Matara, who contributed in the creation of Gensokyo. She lives in a mansion on the Youkai Mountain, where Komachi occasionally visits, where the two share an antagonistic rivalry. She has to ability to guide animals, where she talks with the animals in order to employ them to do work for her.**

 **Okina Matara: Another sage of Gensokyo along with Yukari Yakumo and Kasen Ibaraki, contributing to the creation of Gensokyo. She lives in 'The Land of Back Doors', along with Satono Nishida and Mai Teireida. She has the ability to create doors on the backs of anything, which allows her to travel through those doors and to different places. She also gave the ability to enhance Vitality and Mental Energy to her two servants.**

 **Satono and Mai: The two servants of Okina Matara, who were entrusted by the sage herself. They both retain little memory of their time as a human, due to how long they have been serving Okina Matara. Satono has the ability to draw out the Mental Energy of people by dancing behind them, whereas Mai has the ability to bring out the latent Vitality in someone by dancing behind them.**

 **Fujiwara no Mokou: Mokou was formally a human who drank the Hourai Elixir in order to become immortal. Due to being ostracized for so long, Mokou is a natural loner, choosing not to socialise with humans and youkais alike. Along with immortality, she also has the ability to manipulate and resist fire, often being compared to a phoenix due to the mix between immortality and fire.**

 **(Author's Note: Apologies for the long wait, I tried to make this chapter a little longer to compensate. I've also been running out of ideas outside of the main event, so this chapter may have been badly paced and appear rushed. Apologies.)**


	15. The Defense of Gensokyo begins!

The arrow was easily dodged by Hiroko, who drew a card from one of her dresses pockets and threw it up into the air. Eirin fired a simple danmaku bullet at the card, expecting it to disappear and be destroyed easily. Unexpectedly, however, the danmaku bullet disappeared before even reaching the card, as Eirin quickly got into a defensive position instead.

"Lightning card," Hiroko said, as the card now erupted into lightning strikes, shooting around and down at Eirin, who dodged past the many bolts that aimed to strike her down. Before the bolts hit the ground, which would have caused a lot of noise to be made and potentially wake up the whole of Gensokyo, more cards were thrown around, connecting with the bolts of lightning as they approached the edges of Gensokyo. "Reverse card," she said, as the lightning bolts were sent in reverse directions, coming this time at all angles to attempt to strike down the lunarian sage for an easy victory. Eirin continued to dodge the lightning bolts, until eventually, more cards were thrown around as they reflected the lightning back around. There came a point, however, where Hiroko simply let fly many cards, more than what appeared to be in the deck, surrounding the lunarian sage in a cage of reflection and lightning.

"You did well to continue dodging," Hiroko said, narrowing her eyes. "But i'm afraid I can't allow anyone to get in the way of my ideals…" she whispered out the last part, briefly reflecting upon her sister locked away on Mars. Now that she thought about it, the current situation was probably the furthest she had been away from her for a long time, millions of years to be more exact. "Relative of Tsukuyomi, give up now or, well, you can't keep dodging all this forever."

"Your ideals?" Eirin said, seemingly ignoring the last remark. "What could you possibly hope to gain from taking over the moon, and now Gensokyo? Now that you mention that, it appears you Martian's aren't just in this for interplanetary conquest as we all once thought."

"You've heard enough, lunarian sage," Hiroko said, surprised at Eirin's ability to hear her words. As she did, she threw three more cards into the cage, fitting through small slots and erupting into more lightning. After many clashes and about half a minute, the lightning stopped as all the cards returned to her hand. Hiroko took a deep breath, regaining the composure she lost upon reflecting on her family matters.

"Earlier you said I can't keep dodging forever," Eirin said, waving her hand as the remains of the attack disappeared. Hiroko gasped upon hearing her voice. "I'm afraid I have that amount of time on my hands. Three people have drank the Hourai Elixir I made. Princess Kaguya, a human from Gensokyo, and myself. In other words, you can't simply kill me."

Hiroko bit her lip slightly, breathing heavier as she did so. "So… you're immortal are you? That is quite an issue…" she said, hovering place. "Tell me, Eirin, have you heard of the surname 'Amagai'?"

Eirin narrowed her eyes quickly, arming her bow with yet another arrow. "I feared it could be this. You're the younger sister, correct?"

"Yes," Hiroko said, nodding and holding a card between her fingers. "And I think as someone regarded as 'the Brain of the Moon', you may understand what I want from Gensokyo."

Eirin hovered up to Hiroko's level, holding her bow up towards her with the arrow tip pointing at Hiroko's chest. "I can't allow the will of the gods to be disturbed like that, as a Goddess of the moon myself," she said, as spirits appeared around her, encircling Hiroko as they locked in place around her. "Astronomical Entombing," she said, releasing the arrow as she fired a large, red bubble-like bullet into the cage along with it, causing the spirits to vibrate and release bullets as they did against Yorihime. It sounded like one of the larger bullets hit directly, as well as a few of the smaller ones dissipating upon contact with her.

"Flame card," Hiroko said, as a bust of flame destroyed all the spirits and set her free from the cage she was trapped in. "Enough with these games as if we're trying to contain each other, shall we? If I can't kill you, then it appears that shouldn't be my goal in this fight."

Eirin nodded, as she summoned many bullets around her, collapsing in on herself before being released in a spray towards around her, with a large focus of the bullets being on Hiroko. Hiroko was forced to dodge through the bullets, before finding herself surrounded by lasers while the bullet spray continued. "Genealogy of the Sky Born," Eirin said, as, along with the continued spray of bullets, came large red bubbles as well as oval shaped, darker bullets. By combining two different attacks together, she put a massive amount of pressure on Hiroko, as she was constantly hit directly by bullets due to the combination of confined space and density of bullets.

"As I said," Eirin said, holding her bow up and aiming through the bullets at Hiroko as she drew it back. "As a goddess of the moon, not only do I have to defeat you so they can inhabit the moon once again, but as a resident of Gensokyo I must protect it with all my strength. It doesn't matter if you are the second being to exist in the universe, or if you're supposed to be the most powerful being in the universe outside of your sister, I must stop your efforts here." she said, releasing the arrow once again, as Hiroko looked up this time, narrowing her eyes with nowhere to escape from it.

Meanwhile, Remilia flew relaxingly along with Sakuya towards one of the sites where the Martian's went to. Remilia had a smile on her face, as Sakuya appeared a little more serious as they approached someone in the distance. "Aha!" Remilia exclaimed, speeding ahead of Sakuya as she stopped in front of the person at the head of the group. "I am Remilia Scarlet, the strongest and fastest Youkai of Gensokyo. You're no match for someone like me, martian, so you may as well give up now."

"Mhm…" Kaiya nodded, looking closely at Remilia as she boasted about herself. "And we could've sworn Yukari was supposed to be the strongest of you all…"

"Y-you know Yukari?" Remilia said, as a drop of sweat emerged on her face. Sakuya stopped next to her mistress, as she also looked up towards Kaiya. "Well, whatever! Yukari might be the best in a fight, but i'm the physically strongest and fastest! Besides, Yukari's ability isn't fair to begin with, so she's excluded."

"I see," Kaiya said, as she raised her hand to her group, causing them to all fall down onto the ground instead of staying in the air. They landed around the Myouren temple, watching up at the three of them. "And what's your ability?"

"T-that doesn't matter! I don't need it to beat the likes of you anyway!" Remilia said, summoning a red spear in her hand as she pointed it towards Kaiya. "Sakuya! Let's get this over with quickly and move on to someone stronger than she is!"

"Sorry, Hiroko's a bit busy right now," Kaiya said, holding onto the tip of her hat as she smiled confidently. "I'm Kaiya Amari. Although, to someone like you, it seems I might as well put that in simpler words. There's only one other martian who is better than me in a fight when we both get serious. I guess that makes me the second most powerful martian, doesn't it?"

Remilia smiled, as she grasped her spear and pointed it towards Kaiya. "That's all I needed to hear. After I beat you, i'm moving on to the strongest of you all!" she said, bursting forward with incredible speed. Just before the spear connected with her, however, she found herself up in the air, despite being close to the ground. She continued flying a few feet behind Kaiya, before stopping and looking down at her.

"Let's not be so hasty, our conversation wasn't finished yet," Kaiya said, smiling. "I have the ability to teleport anything to anywhere in space I desire. I could send you up into outer space, where you would simply suffocate without air, if that's how I wanted to win the fight. Of course, that's not fair to anyone, so i'd rather give you a chance."

"You're talking down to me!?" Remilia exclaimed, holding the spear down towards her. "Sakuya!"

"Yes, Mistress," Sakuya said, as, before she knew it, Kaiya was surrounded on all sides by knives that were closing in on her. Despite being taken by surprise, she teleported them all above Remilia and Sakuya, allowing gravity to do the rest of the work. Sakuya, however, disappeared along with Remilia, and as they did, Kaiya felt a knife cut her on the shoulder, grasping it as she did so.

"Well, what an interesting power," Kaiya said, smiling the slight pain she felt away. "What could it be, I wonder?"

"I want to know something as well," Sakuya said, bringing three knives into the crevices between her fingers. "What is your purpose for coming here and doing all this?"

Kaiya sighed, shaking her head as she heard the question. "No idea." She said, shrugging. "We have this person above us that only Hiroko's seen. She randomly told us to take over the moon and Gensokyo for some reason. If you really want to know, Hiroko's up there, fighting that girl with a bow." She said, pointing to the highest point of the great Hakurei barrier. "She's known me for so long and hasn't even told me why we're doing this. Must be something quite personal."

"I see," Sakuya said, holding her knives up. "So, once either of them wins their fight, i'll have to ask them."

"Hmm, I wouldn't expect much of an answer," Kaiya said, before turning to look at Remilia. "Youkai have different classifications, right? Like how that Yukari person is a Youkai of Boundaries. What kind of Youkai would you happen to be?"

"Eh?" Remilia asked, still appearing unphased by the remark about healing. "I'm a vampire youkai."

Kaiya smiled at the answer. "A vampire youkai, hm? I couldn't think of a better match up myself," she said, summoning a white, light ball that resembled the sun within the palm of her hands. Remilia felt her body burning up, as Sakuya acted quickly to pause time and take Remilia away, into the bushes outside the Myouren Temple. As she returned and unpaused time, she looked up to her.

"That ball of light is the same as the sun…" she said, looking at it as it disappeared in her hand.

"Yes, it is. I'm the minister of discovery, and my free time is spent observing everything about celestial objects. Since I observe them so much, I learn all about what they're made of, light frequencies and all that stuff. After I learn about them, I can scale the size and mass down, as to not cause a black hole, and create an exact replica of that object to use as an attack. I could create a larger sun and destroy the world with it, if I wanted to. But where's the fun in that?"

"I see," Sakuya said, raising a knife up. "So in that case, the mistress is doomed to lose against you."

As she said that, Sakuya paused time again, throwing more knives around her, as well as some extremely close to her, so close it was hard to react quick enough to them. The knives quickly rushed towards her when time was unpaused.

"Planetary Shield," she said, as a rocky planet exterior surrounded her and deflected all the knives, before disappearing when all the knives were stopped by the shield. "Summoning just the exterior of a rocky planet scaled down provides a shield for me. I don't think your knives would ever be able to penetrate that, even with all the time in the world."

Sakuya bit her lip, throwing out around one thousand knives in a straight line towards Kaiya, wide enough to be considered a beam of knives. A small meteor was created, flying at speed towards Sakuya, knocking away all the knives in the process. Sakuya paused time again, flying away from the meteor while attacking her with more knives from far away. The fight became a fight of knives against small meteors, causing small craters as they buried themselves within the earth. Remilia smiled, as Kaiya was distracted, flying up behind her and swinging her spear in an arc, which was dodged by Kaiya backflipping over her, creating a meteor around Remilia as she did.

"Nice try, but the noise of your energy spear gave you away," she said, firing the meteor down into the ground, as it exploded into smaller rocks, leaving Remilia unconscious in the center of the crater. She wasn't dead, nor was her life in danger so long as she stayed there, Kaiya had made sure of that.

"Mistress!" Sakuya shouted, as Kaiya teleported behind her and kicked her down towards the crater, hitting a rock on the way down as her guard was let down by the defeat of her mistress. A normal laser was fired right after Sakuya's descent, penetrating through the side of her torso, avoiding any vital organs as she shock factor from the attack was enough to stop her from moving, but not quite knocking her unconscious. Sakuya was teleported higher into the air afterwards, as gravity did the rest of the work, knocking her unconscious as she landed back inside the crater with her mistress, the shock still not allowing movement.

"That was fun," Kaiya smiled, before looking behind her at the group as they were all knocked onto the ground, seemingly not moving with injuries covering them. "Oh… I swear I avoided any attacks going to them."

"You did," another voice said behind her, as Kaiya turned around to see three people standing on the ground. "You made quite the show, I must say. Too bad we got here too late to stop you from beating the vampire and her maid. I'm Okina Matara, one of the sages of Gensokyo."

"Oh, a sage of Gensokyo choosing to fight me?" Kaiya asked, smiling as she touched the top of her head to make sure her hat hadn't fallen off during the battle. "I'm flattered, really. So you're like Yukari, then?"

"You know Yukari?" Okina asked, before shaking her head. "Of course you do. She was the one who went to Mars. Your leader up there is busy fighting one of the sages of the moon, so I had to settle for second best."

Kaiya yawned, looking up at the moon as she did so. "All this fighting at night is making me a bit tired. I hope you'll be the last person I have to fight tonight, or else I might just fall asleep…" she said.

As Okina arrived to fight Kaiya, Byakuren had woken up due to all the noise outside the temple. Rather than choosing to join in with the fight, she snuck away, flying over Gensokyo to where the second version of the Palanquin ship was being created in order to wake up everyone on the ship.

Once Byakuren arrived, she immediately found Murasa asleep on the deck. She hovered down to wake her up, as the captain opened her eyes and looked at the monk. "I thought i'd find you here," she said, looking up at the Youkai Mountain where the ship was being built behind of. "The Martian's came in the night, so I thought to wake you all up."

"Huh… Miss Hijiri?" Murasa asked, as she began opening her eyes as she yawned. "Martians? ...Oh!" she said, as her eyes snapped open and she quickly got to her feet. "Right! I'll get to the wheel, you can wake everyone below deck up. Let's show them what the Myouren Temple is made of!"

Byakuren appeared surprised by Murasa's quick switch of attitude, before nodding as she went below deck to find Shou, Nazrin, Ichirin, Kogasa, Nue and Mamizou, waking them up as the Palanquin Ship readied itself to fly into the air once again.

Meanwhile, in the towards the north of Gensokyo, Mokou was flying in front of Kaguya, who was smiling behind her. "Kaguya! I told you, whoever went up here is mine for the taking! You can take the one that went over near the Youkai Mountain."

"Oh, but Youkai Mountain is much further away. It's much simpler to come up here and then go over there afterwards," Kaguya argued, to which Mokou seemed even more displeased by.

"You can also go up there and help Eirin, you know!" Mokou exclaimed. "If it weren't for the situation, i'd force you to go somewhere else!"

"There's still another one of Eirin's pupils who hasn't moved yet…" Kaguya said, looking back towards Eientei and ignoring the remark. "I wonder what Toyohime is up to."

"Are you ignoring me?" Mokou asked, turning back towards Kaguya. "You'd be no help to me anyway! It's easier if you just turn back no-"

"Oops," Kaguya said, as she fired a laser through Mokou, going past the body as Mokou was resurrected with a Phoenix-esque symbol accompanying it. "You see, now you're following me north. You'd be better somewhere else, like near Youkai Mountain, for example."

"But… I was the one who-" Mokou started again, before being cut off.

"Well, would you look at that?" Kaguya said, pointing down towards a group of people and flying down to it. Mokou let out an growl of annoyance, before landing on the ground behind Kaguya. "So, you separated into four groups, right? Then which one of you is the leader of this one?"

"I'm quite surprised by the lack of people up north," Saiko said, pushing through the rest of the Martians. "Say, could you explain to me why everything looks so messed up?"

"It does?" Kaguya said, tilting her head, before remembering what Eirin told her about the plan. "Oh, right it does to you. Someone here made everything unidentifiable so we could confuse you. Eirin made a drug to make it so we all see it all normally."

"A drug?" Saiko asked. "So Gensokyo is more than just a mess of randomness. Who are you two, anyway?"

"We asked first," Mokou said, to which Kaguya held her hand up.

"I asked first."

"The specifics don't matter!"

"Ahem," Saiko said, interrupting the argument between the two before it escalated. "Saiko Kurosawa, Minister of Chemicals who uses their ability to control chemicals to keep stability over the illnesses of on Mars. You could call me the pharmacist."

"So you are like Eirin," Kaguya said, sighing. "I'm Kaguya Houraisan, former lunarian princess. That over there is just a normal human who copied my immortality so she could kill me on a daily basis."

"At least tell the full story!" Mokou exclaimed in annoyance.

"That's your issue?"

"And don't just call me 'that'! My name is Fujiwara no Mokou, former human who drank an elixir to become immortal myself."

"I see, so you two really don't have the strongest of relationships," Saiko sighed, shaking her head. "This Gensokyo is full of all kinds of people."

"What was your strategy, separating out into different areas like this?" Mokou asked, walking past Kaguya, with a slight push away.

"To separate you guys, of course," Saiko replied, her always serious nature not faltaring upon any questioning. "Gensokyo has so many more people than us, some like Yukari surpassing three of us at most, and two of us at an underestimate of her power. By separating you out like this, and attacking at night, we're thinning out your numbers before the big event begins in the day."

"Honestly, Mokou, that was quite simple," Kaguya joked, as Mokou seemed like her fuse was blown about a long time ago. She turned around to Kaguya and snapped angrily.

"If you're going to follow me here, at least help out instead of annoy me!"

"It seemed as though you followed her," Saiko said, a slight bit of impatience evident in her voice as the conversations dragged on.

"See," Kaguya laughed. "Even she's a witness to it."

Mokou growled, before turning away from Kaguya and raising her hand. "Let's just get this over with!" she shouted, turning her back as she enveloped herself in a fiery tornado that rushed towards the Martian, catching her by surprise as she was whipped up within it, being thrown out as it ended into a tree, although she didn't realise what it was until she was falling through it. She landed against the mess of coloured static, looking up at Mokou as she threw many knives covered in a corrosive substance, piercing her body as it eroded away.

After death, however, Mokou appeared next the the tree in a burst of flame, swiping up as a fiery, claw-like apparition followed her hand movement through the tree and burnt through it, knocking Saiko from her seated position into the air, as two more swiped followed back to back, locking her into a combo which finished with a downwards hit that smacked her against the ground. Afterwards, Mokou flipped towards her as she flew downwards with a kick coated in flame, which was avoided by Saiko rolling out of the way as she grabbed Mokou's leg, transmitting her germs onto it as it was soon completely destroyed, staggering Mokou off balance. Saiko used the chance to kick Mokou up in the air as she got up, following her upwards as she blasted her with a combo of attacks, punches to the head, both her arms, her body and her remaining leg, before knocking her downwards as they were all destroyed by her touch.

Mokou was revived even from nothing being left of her, however, flipping away from her as she did so with her hands in her pockets.

"Impressive regeneration capabilities, coming back from that," Saiko complemented, wincing in pain as she did so from the burns that were inflicted onto her by Mokou's attacks. Mokou went to speak, but was immediately interrupted.

"Complete destruction means complete regeneration," Kaguya said, smiling as she did so. "That's the rule of our Hourai Elixir, or so Eirin says. Even if you completely eradicate us until not a single subatomic particle remains, we'll always come back."

"Those were pretty complex words for you," Mokou teased, as fatigue was evident in her voice. Despite always bringing someone back after death, the side-effects Mokou experience is the regenerative properties bring her a great deal of pain and fatigue, even if it may only be mentally inflicted. Naturally, the more she would experience death and the more brutal the death would be, the more tired out she would get upon revival. Complete destruction being the highest level of fatigue one could feel when being revived.

"There were no complex words there," Kaguya said, also with a joking manner to her voice.

"Also…" Mokou said, seeming to get angry with Kaguya once again. "When are you going to stop watching and help!?"

"When you tire yourself out," Kaguya smiled. "You asking me for help, hm? This is new~" she added, teasing her more.

Mokou growled slightly, before moving her head out of the way of a corrosive knife flying straight for her. Saiko seemed to be getting even more impatient than before, snapping Mokou back into her battle mode.

"Oh my, how rude," Kaguya said. "We were having a delightful conversation."

The two battlers ignored her comment, with Mokou attempting the same trick as before, attacking her at range with fiery claws. The same trick wouldn't work twice, however, as Saiko dived down towards the ground and underneath the attacks, kicking off the ground for an extra boost to get close to Mokou. The representative of Gensokyo, however, avoided the touch as she ducked lower, sweep kicking Saiko's legs to knock her off balance before flinging her into the air with another overhead kick, finishing with quick burst of speed into the air, before kicking down into Saiko's abdomen, flying down towards the ground with her as a burst of fire erupted from the ground when they landed, similar to a volcanic eruption which Mokou backflipped away from.

As the attack cleared, Saiko was left standing in pain from the burns and a damage abdomen, but didn't allow those injuries to prevent her from keeping up the assault, hitting Mokou's chest with a knife she had previously touched, causing her entire upper body to be destroyed as she was once again reborn from the flames. Realising she would miss her chance with her fatigue becoming unbearable if the fight continued like this, upon revival she grabbed the Martian with a small, blue flame ball in her hand. She crushed it in her hand, destroying herself in a massive burst of blue fire shining as powerfully and as bright as a star, as Mokou revived feet away from Kaguya and collapsed onto her knees from the fatigue, still watching to see what damage her final attack had caused.

The attack cleared as Saiko herself was left not standing. The burns inflicted were enough to cause her to fall down on both knees in an attempt to regain composure, however only her right arm made it to the ground. Her left was seemingly destroyed in the final attack, as it was the closest part of her to the origin of it.

Mokou looked up towards Kaguya. "Your turn…" she managed to mutter out, before falling onto the ground as her pain and fatigue from the fight eventually became too much to handle as she fell unconscious.

"You could've at least left me some kind of fight," Kaguya sighed, as she stepped past the unconscious body of her rival and towards Saiko. "Although I don't find fighting so reckless like that as a good strategy, even with our immortality, it seemed to get the job done well enough here."

"So… you're going to finish… the job now, huh?" Saiko asked, as Kaguya kneeled down close to her.

"Oh, no, not quite yet," Kaguya smiled, as she let out a sigh that appeared to come across as more like a yawn, as her smile snapped into seriousness. "Only the Watatsuki sisters and the moon rabbits came back from the moon. There should be more, like Tsukuyomi and Sagume. What happened to them?"

"They're both locked up on Mars…" Saiko answered, looking up towards the lunarian princess in distaste. "The god of the moon... as well as a goddess from the moon. Quite valuable to… keep around, of course."

"Alright," Kaguya nodded, before standing back up tall. "Even if I was exiled from the moon, as a former princess I should probably help them out. How would I get there?"

"We only have… one person who can take us there…" Saiko said, breathing deeply for air in order to keep herself from passing out. "But she's to the south…. Alternatively, that Youkai of Boundaries you have can take you there… wherever she is."

"Probably sleeping…" Kaguya sighed. "Now, last question. Why did you attack the moon,and now Gensokyo?"

"The only reason disclosed to me is that we want to get ourselves known across the universe… by a sort of intergalactic conquest," She said, to which Kaguya nodded once again.

"Right… well, you're not threat to anyone like that. If nobody else can, then as a princess, I will. Think of your suffering here from these burns and your missing arm as punishment for thinking you could attack the Lunar Capital like that and get away with it," She said, walking away from Saiko as she picked up Mokou.

"You're… leaving?" Saiko asked, as she watched the princess throw her rival over her shoulder.

"Like I said, this is punishment for your acts against the moon," Kaguya said, smiling as she looked back. "It's unofficial, though, so I wouldn't expect this to be the only thing you may have to go through." she finished, as she left the ground with Mokou with her, going towards Eientei and where Yorihime was battling.

Above the Bamboo Forest, whilst everything was happening, Yorihime smiled as she floated across from the two of them. "Who's your new friend?"

"Oh, her?" Kasumi smiled as as she directed her eyes towards to godly being next to her. "She's the one who'll beat you. A familiar of mine, with power even you would fear to see!"

"Is that so?" Yorihime said, not taking a single word that she was told seriously as she span her sword around in her hand. "Then let her have the first move."

"You heard her," Kasumi smiled, being as over-confident as she usually was. "Jitia, show her what you're made of!"

The familiar reluctantly nodded, which Yorihime took note of as she smiled at the fact. The two clashed in swords, as the fight played out like a usual mid-air sword battle would, with hardly anything in the deviation. After the two consistently clashed swords for about a minute, Yorihime taking glances up at the fight between Hiroko and Eirin as they did, she eventually kicked the god away as she summoned Honoikazuchi out of mostly boredom, striking the familiar with lightning attacks in quick succession, before covering her own blade in lightning, striking the stunned familiar towards the ground with a sword swing.

"Call off your familiar," Yorihime said, parting the spirit of Honoikazuchi from her body as she raised her blade. "There's no point in having it continue fighting, believe me on that."

"Grrh!" Kasumi said. "I created it to defeat you, so defeat you it shall! Hurry up and fight her!"

As she was bound to do as Kasumi's order, Jitia did her best to rush upwards towards Yorihime, to which Yorihime dodged easily and continued to clash blades. Yorihime never appeared fazed by any attack, as her sword blocked any attempt to hit her with ease and without much effort. Yorihime grew increasingly more bored, before once again Yorihime knocked the familiar towards the ground, bringing swords from the ground to surround her with the power of Lord Gion.

"A familiar is bound by its masters power," Yorihime sighed, looking towards the Martian. "Even if you try to summon a familiar with godly power, unless you also have godly power, their power will be latent and unused. Now, call off your familiar. It's pointless keeping it around."

Kasumi growled at this remark, raising her hand as her familiar disappeared. "Well then, looks like i'll have to put my training to use, then."

"Your training? After three days?" Yorihime asked, picking her sword out of the ground and raising it with a tilt of her head. "Not much should change. Even if you did increase in power, my training with master Yagokoro would be enough to negate that."

"Well, you'll be surprised at just how strong I am," Kasumi smiled, raising her sword up as well. "It was a long time since I last battled when we first met. Now, i'm back in gear!"

"I already was quite surprised," Yorihime smiled. "I went through four of my abilities last time we fought. The people native to Gensokyo made me use two each." She said, before looking past Kasumi to the Palanquin Ship lifting off from behind the Youkai Mountain. Kasumi turned around, her eyes following Yorihime's, however she saw nothing but a blend of colour.

"What are you looking at?" She asked, tilting her head.

"If you had Master Yagokoro's drug, you would know," Yorihime said, as she raised her sword. Kaguya arrived before any more words were spoken, with Mokou over her shoulder, still unconscious.

"Ah, Yorihime," Kaguya said, hovering down to her level. "Do you know where Toyohime is?"

"She's entertaining herself with the group of small fry outside of the Bamboo Forest. A night sparrow was awake, naturally, so the two of them are messing around with the group," Yorihime sighed. "I would say we had a problem with nobody going towards the Youkai mountain, but now that ship took off, that's not a problem at all."

"I see," Kaguya nodded, hovering towards Eientei. "Mokou exhausted herself out to beat the person up north. She's conscious, but covered in burns and with an arm completely blown off. She won't pose any threat. I left her there like that as punishment for attacking the Lunar Capital."

Yorihime nodded, as Kasumi gasped at the word of Saiko's defeat. "Right. Where do you plan to go next?"

"Eirin should be fine where she is, and that ship is over at the Youkai mountain. I guess i'll check what's happening near the Myouren Temple," Kaguya said, going towards Eientei. As it would be dangerous to leave anyone out in the open whilst they're unconscious, she had the idea to use Eientei as a base of sorts, where anyone defeated in battle would stay for the time being. She went inside Eientei, leaving her rival on the floor instead of showing any sort of hospitality.

 **(Author's Note: I planned to have this chapter out on August 10th as a way to celebrate the release of Touhou 16.5, but I was busy playing the game, so I ended up missing the date by two days. Apologies.)**


	16. Battle of Betrayal - Eirin's Observation

**(Well, this took a while. I have no excuses on the massive delay that came with this chapter. I never really felt the urge to sit down and write up large portions so this chapter ended up taking a lot longer. Hopefully it'll be much less of a wait for the next one.)**

With nowhere to dodge, Eirin's arrow landed directly in the side of Hiroko's chest, the wound not deep enough to penetrate her lung, however. The attack stopped shortly after, as in a blinding flash of speed, Eirin situated herself some distance behind Hiroko, releasing another arrow which was dodged with similar blinding speed, catching the lunarian off guard as she felt a card being slid down the back of her dress. Knowing exactly what was to come next, she turned around and grabbed Hiroko with both arms when she uttered the words "Darkness Card,". Eirin's back was erupted in dark tendrils, destroying her easily but also hit Hiroko with the same amount of force, causing her get blasted away by hit tendrils of darkness that came from her own attack. Eirin was resurrected after the exchange, as Hiroko felt drips of blood fall down her body and herself starting to get worn out.

"Using my own attack against me," Hiroko said, smiling the pain away. "Should've known you would try something like that eventually."

"I saw you unphased by the arrow hitting you, so I knew that would be useless for damage in itself," Eirin said. Being a lunarian and the creator of the Hourai Elixir, Eirin was much less prone to being worn out due to the Hourai Elixirs effects of immortality. Of course, it still affected her, but much less than it would from a normal human body such as Mokou's. "About Nuwa, your sister. Do you pity her?"

"...Yes," Hiroko said, closing her eyes as she threw another card towards Eirin, staying in place where the lunarian once was as she dodged away, choosing to dodge directly behind her this time as she prepared to hit her point plank with a powerful spell. Hiroko, however, calmly moved over her, placing a card against her back. "Force Cards," she said, as Eirin was violently pushed towards the card that was thrown at her before. The card pushed Eirin back to the same effect, hitting her with great force in the stomach this time. The two card pushed her around like she was a ball being hit between two tennis players.

Eirin spoke some words undistinguishable to anyone other than Lunarians, as Eirin released a powerful lunarian spell, as pure light surrounded the two of them in a ball, completely destroying the the two were closest to as it appeared. Eirin quickly got out of the giant ball, as giant beams of light focused on the center of the ball, as the ball closed in on itself and dissipated in a large explosion of light energy. The light energy was sucked back in towards Hiroko, as Eirin looked over as it seemed to be an unexpected result. Hiroko held a card in her hand when she came back into view, as it lay in front of her face.

"Just as I expected," Eirin said, as the entire energy in her previous spell was launched out and focused at her. Eirin raised her hand at the light beam, as it hit her hand and seemed to disappear as it did. Eirin used the time she had gained from the ordeal to raise her other hand towards the moon, twisting her hand as it faced directly at the looming figure in the sky and its orbital period began to slow, as the moon was spun around backwards a little bit to restore it to how it once was. Eventually, as the last of the power disappeared from the card, the moon was reverted to how it usually was. "Your cards aren't just attacks for an element, they also absorb that element. I needed the time bought from that to use a spell of my own to change the moon back to normal. Thank you."

Hiroko sighed, throwing the previously 'light card' up in the air as it dissipated. "Right. Excluding jokers, a usual deck of cards has fifty-two different cards. This deck is different. There are not fifty-two cards in here, but fifty-two cards representing fifty-two different methods of offense or defense. Reverse, Lightning, Light, Flame, Darkness, Force. These are six of the fifty-two different possibilities I hold in my hand. Even if I take one card out, I can use as many cards as I need to of that thing."

"Interesting, because when I look at your hand, I see fifty-one cards," Eirin smiled, showing impressive observation skills. Hiroko nodded, reaching into the pockets in her green dress decorated with ribbons and throwing one into the air.

"I've been preparing this one for a while, with how you like to talk," Hiroko smiled, watching as the card spun in the air. "Sound card," she said, as a large burst of sound blasted itself towards Eirin, threatening to destroy her eardrums as Hiroko threw another card into the air. This one, however, appeared to just bring normal cards into her hand which she threw with impressive accuracy at Eirin, sticking themselves into her body as she was forced to revive once again.

Eirin covered her ears with her hand, making sure they were still perfectly intact after her last life. She nodded as they were, before looking at Hiroko. "You smiled. Perhaps you momentarily let go of those burdens you placed on yourself when we were fighting?"

"Huh?" Hiroko said, her smile quickly fading as she shook her head. "No, I was merely looking forward to the future I have planned."

Eirin smiled herself, in disbelief of what Hiroko was saying. "You've done quite well to keep her hidden away all these years. Hiding her from the gods was the right thing to do as her sister. Who knows what they might have done if they got their hands on her, right? But you placed a burden on yourself in doing so, a burden to where you must always fight to keep her hidden. Now you're doing this fighting because you want to find her a new home. As well as that, because of who she is, you figured you couldn't let her roam around your city or be able to negotiate options with Tsukuyomi or the Gensokyo Sages. You saw Gensokyo separate from the rest of the world and figured this would be the perfect place to let her roam around and have friends again. In the midst of battle against a worthy opponent, you forgot about all that and realised what you enjoyed, outsmarting people in battle and seeing a pay off. In this case, getting me to talk to fuel your sound card and using my own words against me, quite literally. I'm right, aren't I?"

"Who's to say I don't have another sound card in my pocket right now?" Hiroko asked, biting her lip at Eirin's words. Eirin smiled and raised her finger to point at Hiroko's hand.

"There's fifty-two cards in your hand now. You're hiding nothing at this moment in time," Eirin said, smiling as she pointed towards the deck of cards.

"You have some impressive observational skills, Eirin," Hiroko said, narrowing her eyes slightly. "Truth be told, I didn't want to attack the moon. Not initially that is. That part was everybody else's idea, I was against it. Then I remembered about the Youkai of Boundaries and this place called Gensokyo, separate from the world around it. I knew this would be a good chance to let her live somewhere on Earth. Thinking someone as smart as that Youkai Sage would just sit idly by and let Nuwa come into her place with no repercussions is insane. Even if she doesn't know who she is, she'll find out eventually. Especially with you being here."

"Have you discussed it with Yukari and the other sages?" Eirin asked, tilting her head. "Perhaps they may be a bit more open to the idea than you think. As far as I know, Yukari's surprisingly laid back when it comes to this stuff. Not sure about the other sages, though."

"As I said, assuming they would be open to the idea is insane. So we had to resort to taking it by force so she can get off that planet. You understand why, i'm sure," Hiroko nodded as she said the last part.

"Because she's your sister, you put all this on the line to get her somewhere she likes being," Eirin said. "That makes sense. We are enemies, however. I'm immortal, and i'm quite sure that you're not. Even if you do have such impressive stamina and resistance to attacks as your showing here, eventually i'll win."

"We'll just have to see about that, now won't we?" Hiroko said, raising another card in her hand as she closed her eyes.

Meanwhile, near Youkai Mountain, Yorimi looked up at the unidentifiable mess above her. "Well, well, well. Wonder what that could ever be," she said, before ignoring it and walking forward and closer to the mountain, which she didn't quite know was even a mountain. "Although, that seems to be the only activity. Maybe I should go check it out," she debated in her head, before giving in to the debate and flying upwards.

On the Palanquin Ship, Nue looked over the edge of the ship as Yorimi flew up to it. She narrowed her eyes slightly. "What does she want?" she asked, jumping off the ship and flying towards her, the both of them stopping near each other. "Are you coming on the Palanquin Ship now as well? You're not invited, i'm afraid."

"Palanquin Ship?" Yorimi asked, looking up to what she could not even identify. "Ah, so that's what that is."

"Yes, this is the one and only second version of the Palanquin Ship," Nue said, nodding.

"Then there's a first version?" Yorimi asked, to which Nue nodded. "Then that defeats the purpose of saying 'one and only', does it not?"

"Whatever," Nue said, before looking behind Yorimi. "What's with all those people? Did you have a secret army or something?"

"Oh… yeah, that," Yorimi said, looking behind her before sighing. "Ah, whatever. My apologies for not properly introducing myself before. I'm Yorimi Kawakami, and I was sent as a Martian spy. I'm also the Minister of Resources."

Nue said no words, instead choosing to hold her trident up to the side of her as she looked down at the Martian. With no hesitation, dark clouds formed around her as Yorimi was left surprised at her actions, moving away from the dark clouds as they ominously and slowly edged towards her. She sighed, seeing a fight was inevitable at this point as she flew down to the Youkai Mountain, putting her hand on a bit of the mountain and shaping it into a spear, which even she herself could not identify the true shape and size of, as she looked up and saw the clouds gone.

"Huh?" She asked, as the dark clouds now surrounded her and Nue stood right behind her. Their weapons clashed a bit, with Yorimi proving to be the lesser skilled fighter out of the two. She eventually covered her spear in air, thrusting it forward as Nue's easily dodged the ensuing bit of wind that followed in a straight line. "Fighting high in the sky ill suits me, i'd much rather us go underground."

"This isn't about what you want," Nue shouted, hurling her trident forth into some black clouds, catching Yorimi by surprise as she raised her spear up to deflect it. Nue flew down and grabbed her trident again, spinning it around in an arc as she knocked Yorimi out, through those dark clouds. She brought in a bow made of energy to her hands, firing an energy shot into the air as bullets rained down like arrows from the sky, quickly turning into lasers that hit Yorimi and knocked her down constantly to the ground, where she stayed for a while as her section of the Martian Army charged forward towards Nue, who looked at them and shook her head in disappointment.

"This is all you Martians have? I'm disappointed," she said, summoning differently coloured UFOs that fired bullets and charged down towards the group, where they got hit by them and went flying down the mountain. A decent chunk of them, however, managed to push past the UFOs and climb the bit of the mountain, many losing their footing from the fact they just could not make out where they should step next as they quickly made their way towards Nue, where their weapons that were crafted by the materials found on Mars were swung at the Youkai, who was being attacked on all sides by some things she couldn't account for, taking hits from weapons she wasn't even familiar with made from those materials found on Mars and were unprecedented to Gensokyo's technology. After about five seconds of being hit around, she forced the group off her by surrounding herself with dark clouds, that quickly shot out and knocked all those who fought to climb the mountain down, tumbling towards the surface of the Earth.

In this time, Yorimi had her hand against the ground, closing her eyes as she felt for materials she could use down there. She brought metals out towards the surface, making a combination of weapons from a combination of different materials for her to alternate between them. She had a bow and arrow of her own forged from the most refined materials with the sharpest edge to her arrow, as she aimed and released it up at Nue, who stuck her trident into the ground as the snake that often coiled around it and Nue's wrist slithered down and out around the mountain, before reaching the bottom where it slithered itself underground.

Nue closed in through the arrows being fired at her, raising her trident up to attack Yorimi as the Martian raised curved blade made from a blend of colours and different metals up from the side of her to block it, before taking a metal spear in the other hand and stabbing at Nue to force her away, before hurling it at her along with the sword, which Nue dodged both of. The sword managed to boomerang back around to Yorimi, however, as Nue quickly looked back upon hearing it coming in from behind her, leaping into the air to avoid it as Yorimi grabbed the sword again and leaped up as well, swinging it in a clash between sword and trident.

The two stayed there for a while, looking at each other as they both put force behind their blows, before Nue was struck from behind by one of the Martian soldiers, causing her to wince in pain and back off as she flipped away, taking the soldier down to the floor in pain with a poke from her own weapon. Nue quickly jumped into a set of trees nearby, providing a covering spot behind the mess of unidentifiable objects before releasing a bunch more snakes into the ground, where they all slithered beneath the Earth towards the Martian. From the safety of her own ability altering the Martian's perception of the world, she fired an arrow from an energy bow, taking Yorimi by surprise as she dodged it, but failed to dodge all of the arrows that followed that one behind it, taking hit after hit before the arrows finally stopped.

Nue leaped out of the set of trees, flying downwards towards Yorimi as the two clashed weapons once again. This time, however, Nue's blue set of wings wrapped around Yorimi's weapon, as she gripped around it tightly and threw it away, holding the trident up to Yorimi closer this time. The snakes she had planted in the ground uprooted themselves, wrapping around the Martian and preventing her from moving as Nue stood in the position of power.

"That's it, Martian," Nue said, holding her trident up to her. "Not only did you surprise me and see my true form, but now you turn out to be on the opposing side? How annoying can you get?"

"Well… i've never been much of a fighter in our group," Yorimi sighed, looking at the snakes as they coiled tightly around her body. "What are you going to do now, kill me?"

Nue shook her head, grabbing the Martian and flying her back up towards the Palanquin Ship. "Murasa, I brought us a captive."

"A captive?" Murasa asked, looking over to Nue. "Not bad. Is this one of those Martians?" Nue nodded, taking her below deck as she Murasa followed. "Where are we going to put her?"

"I'll let Byakuren decide that," Nue answered, walking around the ship's interior until she found the room Byakuren was staying within. She knocked, before being granted access. When she walked in, Byakuren gasped at the sight of Yorimi.

"What happened here?" Byakuen asked, looking at the two of them.

"Yorimi ended up being on the Martian team, so I had to take care of her," Nue explained, putting her down on the ground as Byakuren walked over. "Do whatever you want with her," she added, walking out of the room.

Byakuen stood up, walking over to Yorimi and kneeled down next to her. Instead of showing any malice, she chose to smile instead. "Nue gave you a hard time, didn't she? She's like that."

"So… are you not phased by me being on the opposing team?" Yorimi asked, to which Byakuren nodded.

"I am, but that does not change my views," Byakuren said, before walking over to a counter. "You're probably confused at what the floor even is right now. Here, take this," She said, as she handed one of Eirin's new drugs over to Yorimi by putting it directly in her mouth, where she instantly consumed it. "That should help you see better."

"Why are you helping me?" Yorimi asked.

"I don't believe that violence is the way things should be solved, so I myself am avoiding it as much as possible," Byakuren said. "Either way, granting you sight isn't a worry now you're on the ship. Besides, now that I know where your from, how about we have another little chat?"

Yorimi looked up at Byakuren as she mentioned talking. "About what?"

"Your culture, beliefs and about the society in general," Byakuren said, sitting back down in a chair. "I'm interested in such things about you."

"Well, we have someone we call the creator, who created our city," Yorimi shrugged as much as she could through the snakes binding her. "That's the closest we have to belief in any gods. Nobody gets to talk to her except this one person on our side, and she passes on what she says and we do as she pleases."

"So you're all like avatars of that god, in a way," Byakuren said in a questioning tone. "Doing as she pleases in order to represent them and carry out duties."

"Something like that," Yorimi said. "It was her that supposedly passed on the order for us to do all this. Hiroko and the creator are the only ones who really know why."

"I see," Byakuren nodded. Their conversations continued on as they talked about their separate cultures and beliefs. Despite being on opposing sides to each other, Byakuren's friendly personality made it easy to get along with her somehow, allowing them to continue these conversations for both of their knowledge growths.

Back in the south of Gensokyo, Kaiya yawned as she looked at Okina. "So, you three should be the last one's I have to defeat, right? I could've at least been warned to get a good sleep in before this…"

"You've got quite the ego, haven't you?" Okina said, as she smiled.

"Defeating the self proclaimed second strongest youkai and her servant at the same time is bound to give me a bit of a boost," Kaiya smiled also, before raising her finger in a gun formation up to Okina's chest and closed one eye. A heated ball similar to a star, but condensed in mass and density down to the size of a bullet, was blasted out at blinding speed. Instead of hitting Okina, it ended up hitting the ground as Okina dodged away from it, with the two backup dancers raising one leg and backing away from it in surprise.

Suddenly, a spray of kunais attacked Kaiya from behind, with only the first few waves hitting her before she quickly teleported away. Okina halted her fire, before looking around. She failed to catch any sight of the Martian anywhere.

"Attacking from behind?" Kaiya's voice came from below her, but when Okina readied herself to open fire at the ground, there was nobody to be seen. "I expected better from someone so high ranking as a Gensokyo Sage."

Okina merely seemed to laugh slightly at the remark, before opening a door behind her and stepping back through it. Kaiya ceased her teleportation, looking at where the door once was, bracing herself for the door to open and an attack to hit her from out there. Instead, however, Okina stepped out from a door on Kaiya's back without her noticing, before turning around and hitting her on the back of the neck with the side of her hand, as cherry blossom petals came from the attack. Kaiya let out a gasp of surprise, leaning her head backwards as she was stunned from the attack. Okina looked down at her as she did so, a smile plastered on her face as as she raised her hand, causing the cherry petals that were released from early to become pink bullets that rained upon the martian.

After receiving damage from the attack, Kaiya snapped back into reality and teleported away. Okina seemed a lot less phased by the ability, as she simply stepped through another door and reemerged directly behind Kaiya, bringing out seven blue orbs behind her that became lasers, similar to swords, with one managing to pierce directly through Kaiya's shoulder, before she teleported away to just outside the human village, clutching the damaged shoulder in pain.

Kaiya began breathing heavily to catch her breath. "She's tough," she nodded to herself, trying to use her time to regain composure. Okina didn't let that happen, however, as she stepped through the door on Kaiya's back and smiled, glancing behind her at the martian, before releasing a kick that caused her to fly up into the air. She followed through with the attack, stepping out from the door on Kaiya's back and knocking her back down to the ground. However, before she reached the ground, Kaiya teleported away, before reappearing behind Okina and kicking her towards the ground.

Okina stood up, before looking up towards Kaiya who was hovering above her. "Of all the sages of Gensokyo I like to think myself as the strongest," She said. "I commend you for lasting this long."

"I'm…. honoured to hear your praise," Kaiya panted, still with a smile on her face as if she were trying to show off a strong aura. "If that vampire was the second strongest…. Then you oughta be the strongest, right?"

"Strongest youkai?" Okina asked. "Oh, no. I'm not a youkai. Strongest in Gensokyo? I'd like to think of myself that way."

"Not a youkai?" Kaiya asked, still panting for air. "Then what are you?"

"That's a secret, dear," Okina smiled. "Now why don't you show me a few of your tricks instead of just running around? No matter where you go, i'll always be right behind you."

"A few of my tricks?" Kaiya asked. "Oh, gladly. I was thinking now would be about the time to do so anyway. But first, tell me. Why did you leave those two behind?"

"Oh? Satono and Mai?" Okina asked. "They'll be fine. Besides, i'm your opponent. I wont let you escape to fight them instead."

"Not why I asked," Kaiya said, laughing slightly. "You wanted to see some of my tricks? I thought you might've wanted to make sure they're not in danger of accidentally being hit. Even this far away."

"Strong talk for someone losing the fight," Okina said. "You threaten to destroy a large radius? How about I take you somewhere you won't have to limit yourself due to the environment? I was thinking it could get cramped around here myself."

"Somewhere where the environment isn't an issue?" Kaiya asked. "Sounds like a perfect place to me."

"In that case, please, touch your back for me," Okina asked, as Kaiya looked at her with a face full of confusion. She reluctantly placed her hand on her back, as the door that was there caused here to be taken away by it. Okina herself smiled at the sight, before entering another door she created to wind up close to where Kaiya was.

Kaguya found herself walking over to where the backup dancers and the defeated Remilia and Sakuya were. She looked at the four people she had found.

"Oh! Finally," Satono said. "Well…. We found these two lying on the ground and didn't know what to do with them. We… thought we'd wait here to defend them in case anyone tried to attack them."

"...They were defeated in battle, then?" Kaguya asked. "In that case, bring them with me. I've got a nurse back in Eientei. She'll tend to everyone."

"Yes, ma'am," Satono nodded, as her and Mai picked up the two bodies and threw them over their shoulders, Mai having a bit more trouble holding Sakuya than Satono did holding Remilia.

"Satono..." Mai said. "Why did you get the easier one to carry?"

"Because I made it to her first," Satono replied. "Come on, let's follow her already."

"Agh..." Mai whined. "Fine…"

Kaguya flew them across Gensokyo to Eientei, passing by Yorihime fighting against Kasumi and having Remilia and Sakuya go under the care of Reisen, who was busy nursing Mokou back to health at the time. "Kaguya, why don't you fight?"

"Everyone else already has everything covered," Kaguya replied. "I'd much rather be sleeping now but… Eirin would scold me for slacking off during this time. I'm just helping wherever I can…" She said, before yawning.

"Master…" Reisen sighed, before looking at her with a sort of disappointed face. "Was it your idea or Eirin's idea to have me stay behind and be the battle nurse?"

"Eirin was busy with the sisters…" Kaguya yawned. "I had to make any decisions for you and Tewi. Speaking of which, where is she?"

"She ran off on me," Reisen said. "She said staying behind is boring and she wanted to watch the fights."

"Typical…" Kaguya sighed. "Well, do your best to nurse these two up. I'll be going back out now…" she yawned once again.

"Yes, master," Reisen nodded, as Remilia and Sakuya were placed on two beds within Eientei.

In the middle of a sword clash, Kasumi quickly backed away and placed her finger on her ear. "Sorry, gotta take this," she said.

"Wai- what?" Yorihime asked. "You can't just take a break like that in the middle of-"

"Hello, Kasumi speaking," Kasumi said, seemingly ignoring Yorihime entirely. "I see. Why'd you call me? Saiko was beaten too? Why didn't you call Kaiya up for this? What do you mean you couldn't reach her? Sigh… fine. Just when I was enjoying myself too," Kasumi sighed. "Stay right there. One of my buddies got herself captured and she needs me to go over there. I'll be back soon."

"You're leaving?" Yorihime asked, as Kasumi nodded and flew away. "H-how? Who…" She said to herself, hardly managing to get her words together. "...Whatever. Guess i'll go see what Toyohime's up to," she sighed, flying down to where the rest of Kasumi's forces were just outside the bamboo forest, as well as where Toyohime was playing with them along with Mystia Lorelei. The moon was beginning to fall low in the sky by now. Within the next two hours, day would break, Yorihime had thought.


	17. Battle of the Palanquin Ship!

**(My apologies for the longer wait this time. Mix of school, being occupied by other things and just generally not feeling motivated. I will try to update the chapters more frequently, though.)**

Nue looked out over the side of the Palanquin ship, to see a new figure rising up to the challenge. She, in turn, accepted the challenge and jumped off the side to face her. Ichirin observed this, before shaking her head.

"Honestly," she said. "She is aware that if she loses, then the enemies will see Gensokyo for what it truly is, right?"

Nue met Kasumi about two hundred metres away from the new Palanquin ship, with her trident in hand. "Another one of Mars' ministers, I assume?"

"You guess correctly," Kasumi said, readying her blade as well. "In that case you are the one who defeated Yorimi. Glad to know I can beat you and get this over with to fight a real opponent."

Nue shook her head, before making the first move towards her, charging forward with her trident ready to attack. Kasumi quickly dodged it, with speed that impressed Nue as she turned around and attempted another strike, which was also easily dodged. She backed up, summoning a red UFO and sitting atop it, as it fired out lasers towards the Martian Minister, which were deflected by her sword. Kasumi eventually closed the gap herself, rushing forward with her blade ready to strike. Nue moved backwards, however she got caught by the tip of the blade, drawing blood for her arm as it did so.

"Not bad, I can see how Yorimi lost to you," Kasumi said. "Unfortunately, i'm on another plane entirely."

"In that case," Nue said, as she summoned a purple energy bow in her hand, with an arrow of the same purple energy in it. She shot it into the sky, causing a rain of lasers, which eventually turned into bullets to hail down on Kasumi, who was forced to go on the defensive. The hail of bullets did indeed strike her often, despite her best efforts to dodge between them, which damaged the martian in non-vital areas.

"Tsk, a ranged fighter," Kasumi sighed. "How annoying," she said, as she took her time to stay still and summon some sword familiars, as the hail of bullets continued to strike her and cause her to wince in pain. The sword familiars were fired at Nue, who was forced to give up the offensive as she jumped off her UFO before it was destroyed completely. The hail of bullets stopped, as Kasumi again closed in the gap, this time making sure her strike hit. "A worthy adversary," she said, as she sheathed her blade and Nue began falling down. "I hit you with a non-fatal attack. You won't cause much trouble, even if you do wake up."

As Nue continued falling, the entirety of Gensokyo began materialising in front of the martians eyes. "Oh? I see, so she was the one behind all that," she said, as she looked around at the now visible Gensokyo. "Such a nice place. Might visit here again sometime," she said, as she looked up at the Palanquin Ship to see another opponent flying down.

"Nue!" Kogasa shouted, as she flew down towards Kasumi, her umbrella pointing forward. Kasumi sighed at her, before charging up and attacking her as well, this time defeating her in one attack.

"A… less worthy adversary," Kasumi said, as she looked up to the ship again. "Not bad. Sure looks impressive." she said, flying up to the deck of the ship, as Murasa turned around from the wheel when she did. Murasa let go of the wheel, before approaching her. "Are you the captain of this ship?"

"That I am," Murasa said. "Welcome to the Palanquin ship version two, the one and only."

"But if it's the second version, doesn't that mean it's not the one and only?" Kasumi asked, as Murasa realised what she said, before shaking her head.

"Anyway, as the captain of this ship, I hope you don't mind if you lose here," Murasa said, as Kasumi readied her blade. "Oh, but not to me. I've still got captain duties to attend to."

Kasumi looked confused for a second, before being subject to an uppercut from behind, which sent her flying into the air. She looked down to see a large, bearded face with two floating arms near it, as well as Ichirin behind it. She didn't have much time to think as she was hammered back down by Unzan, which sent her flying through the top of the ship and falling out of the bottom.

"Watch the ship!" Murasa shouted. "I don't want to pay for too many repairs already!"

"I apologise," Ichirin said, as she jumped off the side of the ship. "I'll take this one down there now, in that case."

"Good!" Murasa shouted back. "And I swear to Bishamonten, if you send her flying back up here anywhere close to damaging the ship, then it'll be you who's paying!" she said, before taking the wheel once again.

Kasumi fell through the sky, still finding it difficult to move after the attack from behind. She managed to raise her hand to wipe away the blood on her mouth, as she looked up to see Ichirin flying down, her fist raised, with Unzan behind her, also raising his fist. Kasumi raised her sword to block the first first, before finding the force behind it knocking the sword out of her hand and hurtling towards the ground. She was then met with a flurry of fists, noticing that Unzan's movements mimic Ichirin's perfectly, before she was flung by the final attack into the Youkai Mountain, causing a large crater to appear.

Kasumi closed one eye, as her body was bruised and beaten down from the attacks, before she managed to pick herself off the mountain and find her footing on the mountain, before bringing another sword to her side. "So, the big one can only do the same movements the girl does, eh?" she whispered to herself, before kicking off the mountain and flying towards Ichirin, who raised her right fist again. ' _Left,'_ Kasumi thought to herself, as she dodged Unzan's swing by moving to the left, before the left fist was raised, which was dodged by right movement. Eventually, Kasumi successfully closed the gap. When she went to swing, however, Ichirin crossed her hands over her chest, causing Unzan to block her from the attack, before she span around with her arms outstretched to catch Kasumi in a spiral of Unzan's fist, which sent her flying away again.

' _I can't believe it!'_ Kasumi thought, as she panted heavily from the blows she received from Unzan. ' _Am I… being bested in close quarters combat again? Who are these people?'_ she continued to think, before shaking the thought out of her mind as she regained composure. She raised her sword, which caused many demon-like familiars to appear behind her and fly towards Ichirin and Unzan, about twenty total in number. They were all knocked down easily, however, as Kasumi used the time to get behind Ichirin and close in again. She attacked her with the hilt of her blade, before bringing an arcing slash around, which knocked Ichirin away.

"Still up and fighting?" Kasumi asked. "That's better than… two of your allies can say, I will give you that much."

"And you," Ichirin said. "Surviving so many blows Unzan. You're definitely one of the more powerful opponents i've met."

Kasumi smiled, as she assumed another battle ready stance. "I thought the Watatsuki was the most fun i'd have here. You may be proving me otherwise, though," she said, as she closed in again. Ichirin narrowed her eyes, as she began raising her fists, as did Unzan and striking at her repeatedly again. This time, however, once Kasumi got closer, Unzan fired lasers out of its eyes, catching Kasumi off guard and launching her further away. She again summoned many different bladed, about fifty in all, and fired them towards Ichirin.

Murasa, back on the Palanquin Ship, glared over at the fight below. "She's a tough one alright," she said to herself, before looking at the hole in the ship. "Heh, can't let her have all the fun. Shou! You're in charge of the ship now! Don't get any more damage on her while i'm gone!" she shouted, as she took a running start and jumped off the edge of the ship, while at the same time, Shou ran up the stairs from below deck and assumed position as the captain. Nazrin followed her as well.

"Nazrin, on lookout," Shou said, as she grabbed the wheel. The mouse nodded, as she gazed off the edge of the ship.

Murasa grabbed the anchor on her back, throwing it down towards the fight. After the fifty or so blades were dealt with, Kasumi had used the opportunity to close the distance more safely between her, raising her blade and hoping to finish the fight then and there. However, the anchor thrown by Murasa hit Kasumi directly in her stomach, causing her to be launched back down. Murasa grabbed the anchor again, as she put it back on her back.

"Thanks for the assist," Ichirin said, as she braced herself, as did Unzan.

"Don't mention it," Murasa said. "We've already lost two crewmates. That's two too many in this battle."

"Indeed," Ichirin said, looking at the moon. "About one and a half hours left until sunrise. Others should be waking by now. We only need to hold this battle for a short while longer."

"So that was your plan?" Murasa asked, grabbing her anchor again as Kasumi recovered from the blow, and looked up at the duo. "Wait for others to wake up?"

"I believe that to be the best cause of action currently," Ichirin said. "The more allies we have to protect Gensokyo, the better. Now, we must focus to subdue the enemy in front of us!"

"I'll provide cover fire," Murasa said. "You deal with the close quarters combat."

"Not an issue," Ichirin said, as she rushed towards Kasumi, who also rushed towards Ichirin. Ichirin attempted to hit with an overhead swing, which was dodged to the side by Kasumi, before Ichirin attempted the spinning attack again. This time, however, Kasumi went above her to try to strike down at her, but she was interrupted by a water blast from Murasa, which gave enough time for Ichirin to attack, kicking upwards and punching Kasumi herself, before Unzan's hand followed suite with a powerful punch, sending Kasumi hurtling away and falling towards the ground, where she landed against a tree.

"Is that all she had?" Murasa asked. "I'm a little disappointed."

"Don't rush to conclusions," Ichirin said. "This might not be over just yet."

Down on the ground, Kasumi was sitting against a tree, where she coughed up an alarming amount of blood onto her hand, before looking down at her right leg. "Tsk… my leg's broken and that last attack probably rattled my insides up- ack!" She said, as she coughed again. "Damn it… I wish I could've just stayed behind and had a nice rest… now I suppose it's time to play my hand…"

Kasumi floated up off the ground, with her right leg dangling and unable to be used. Ichirin and Murasa looked over to her as she did. "You're a tough one alright," Ichirin said. "By now, most people in Gensokyo would've been defeated."

"Lucky for me… i'm not from Gensokyo… huh?" Kasumi said, as she raised her sword to the sky. "I was hoping to save this one for your leader… but looks like i've got to use it now or else I won't get the chance."

"Go home," Ichirin said. "Have we not proven enough that staying here is a mistake? Eventually you'll lose in the state you're in now. You have no reason to continue fighting."

"No reason…?" Kasumi asked, as her red hair blew back in the wind caused by her attack. "My reason to continue is the same as it always is… not for any master, not for loyalty to anything but my own goals. To defeat anyone who looks down on me… to prove that i'm powerful enough to compete with the gods. Just like father…" she said, as portals opened above her. "You were a worthy…. A worthy adversary. But now… for the sake of all I have… I have to bring this fight to an end," she said, as chains were launched out of the portals at blinding speed.

"Looks like she isn't giving up," Ichirin said, as she dodged the chains, however they kept following her. She tries having Unzan punch them away, however his blows were repelled by them. "Huh?" she asked, as she continued dodging around.

"As I thought," Kasumi said, smiling slightly, before coughing again. "My father used to be a demon hunter… when he died, he told me to follow in his road to be the most powerful demon hunter there was, but my goal was always to prove myself to gods… show them that a mere human can contend with them. So he passed down to me his own technique, demon binding chains that repel the powers of all those who have demonic power within them. Chains of Ogmios."

"That's… so unfair," Murasa said, as she fired out some anchors at the chains in an attempt to halt them. Some of the anchors linked between the locks in the chains and pulled them down the ground, preventing them from pursuing Ichirin any longer, however about seven chains still persisted.

"Wait… human?" Ichirin asked, looking over to Kasumi.

"Ah… oops…" Kasumi said, her eyes widening slightly. "Well, that cats out of the bag… whatever! It's time for you to-ack!" She coughed again, as the blood from her cough fell to the ground. Eventually, Ichirin could no longer escape as the chains wrapped around her. Kasumi hovered over to her, however she found herself almost being struck by an anchor thrown at her, as several more were aimed at the chains. However, now they seemed to be ineffective.

"Tsk," Murasa said, as she found a wind overflow her as knives followed in the wind.

"Wind of Piercing Knives," Kasumi said, as the some of the knives made contact with Murasa, causing her to stagger slightly as Kasumi flew over to her instead. "You're not the worst i've ever met, captain," she said, as she struck her down to the ground.

"Byakuren… Shou… I guess it's up to you two now," Murasa said, before falling down to the surface.

"A bit mean to Nazrin," Ichirin laughed slightly, as Kasumi flew straight in front of her.

"You're the second person to have outclassed me in close quarters combat in the past week," Kasumi said. "You're worthy of high praise, you're abilities should be renowned around the globe."

"Yeah, the globe doesn't really like me," Ichirin said. "I made a pact with a youkai when I was a human monk, then became a youkai myself. But your praise is heard. It's not often we have to protect the ship from someone so strong. I thought we were getting rusty."

Kasumi delivered a sign of respect, before raising her blade and striking down Ichirin too. She looked up towards the ship, before coughing up blood into her hand once again, which she shook away. "So from what they said… there's at least three others…" she said, before taking a green card with a heart on it. "I only have two of these… I wanted to use them both against that lunarian, but I guess I have no choice," she said, as she threw it into the air as it sprinkled green dust over her, causing her insides to heal and previously sustained damage to lessen, but not completely heal. Her leg was unchanged, however.

"Shou!" Nazrin shouted, as she ran over to Shou. "Ichirin and Murasa were both defeated!"

"Both of them?" Shou asked, as she sighed. She looked over to the entrance to below deck, where her pagoda and spear were lying against a wall. "Nazrin, you're in charge of the ship," she said, as she ran over to the pagoda and picked it up.

"H-huh? B-but i've never controlled a ship before," Nazrin said, as Shou looked back at her.

"Just figure something out until I get back. I won't lose, promise," Shou said, as she smiled back at Nazrin, before she too jumped off the side of the ship and flew towards Kasumi. "You've not been doing so bad thus far. But now," she said, twirling her pagoda around. "I, Shou Toramaru, Avatar of Bishamonten, shall send you back to the hell you came from."

' _Avatar of Bishamonten? So these guys are Buddhists. And to be the Avatar of Bishamonten no less. She won't be a slouch,'_ Kasumi thought, before preparing her blade in two hands. "Very well. I accept your challenge."

Below deck on the Palanquin ship, Byakuren had overheard the fighting and talking from upstairs. She turned to Yorimi, who was sitting against a wall. The snakes around her had disappeared with Nue's defeat, however. "It seems your allies have come to rescue you," Byakuren said, as Yorimi sighed.

"Honestly… I don't know what they expect me to do," Yorimi said. "I'm far from a fighter. I might be able to take on some lower levels of your allies, sure, but in the long term I wouldn't be a help at all."

"I wouldn't hold your breath," Byakuren smiled. "Everyone can help. No matter how small or weak they may be, there's a place for everyone on the battlefield. Your allies see that value in you."

"You're still kind to me, even though i'm against you?" Yorimi asked. "I don't understand you."

"Very few people do," Byakuren said. "Because of my views of Youkai and Humans living in harmony, both youkai and humans tend to not understand, or even take a disliking to me. Those who stayed and believed in my views to the end are the ones who are my allies now. The ones that are out there fighting yours."

"Y'know," Yorimi said. "If this ends peacefully, I might stick around with you. You seem nice enough." Byakuren didn't respond, instead just choosing to smiled.

"Avatar of Bishamonten," Kasumi said, as she twisted her blade slightly, as her eyes flared up. "Long have I waited to prove myself to the gods. Perhaps defeating you here with do just that."

"So you're from earth, I assume," Shou said, holding up her pagoda. "You don't seem like a youkai either. So a human… unfortunate, isn't it," she sighed.

Kasumi quickly rushed towards Shou, her sword raised for an overhead slash. Shou raised her one-handed spear to block it, but quickly found herself being pushed pack. She then shot a laser out of her pagoda, which Kasumi let go of the offensive to attempt to dodge, however the side of her abdomen was caught by the edge of the laser. This caused a small part of her body to vaporise away instantly. ' _So the lantern-looking thing is her weapon of choice, then,'_ Kasumi thought, as she raised her sword again. "Blazing Bullets!" she shouted, as guns materialised out of summoned flames, which proceeded to shoot out flaming bullets at Shou, which she raised the pagoda and shot out many lasers to vaporise both the bullets and the guns before they caused a threat.

"Spears of the Leviathan!" Kasumi shouted, as water like spears appeared around her, before also being fired at Shou. This time, however, when met with the lasers, they turned into normal water to flow around the lasers, before rematerializing into the spears. Shou dodged downwards, where there were no spears coming from, however she looked up to see clouds moving apart. "Zeus' Wrath!" Kasumi shouted, as many lightning strikes were summoned to rain down upon Shou, which hurt her a lot and caused electricity to course through her body.

' _She's really going all out,'_ Shou thought, as her muscles tensed from a series of shocks. She managed to raise her Pagoda, however. "Heaven Sign, Scorched Earth Mandara," she said, as Kasumi found herself locked in a laser cage, surrounded on all sides by other laser cages. Shou positioned herself in the cage to the right of Kasumi, before shooting out a pillar of flame from pagoda, catching the Martian in it and burning her. Kasumi looked at her now burnt body, as parts of her clothing had been damaged too. Shou moved above Kasumi, shooting out another pillar of flame down towards her.

"Shields of Ice," Kasumi said, summoning many layers of shields made of ice above her, many of which melted, however some of them froze the fire in place and caused the ice to spread up to Shou. Kasumi then slashed at the ice, causing it to shatter and stagger Shou backwards, also ending the spell card.

"Radiant Treasure Gun," Shou said, as from her pagoda, many lasers were fired out in all directions, some hitting the ground and the Youkai Mountain, which caused gems to appear. The lasers then dispersed into fire balls, which surrounded Kasumi on all sides.

"A fan of fire, I see," Kasumi said, as she summoned a spirit of ice onto her blade, enchanting it with that element. She then began slashing around in all sides, freezing some of the fireballs and allowing her to find a path of escape. After this, the spell was immediately called off, as vertical lasers appeared all around Kasumi.

"Complete Clarification," Shou said, as Kasumi reached into her pockets and threw her other healing card into the air, curing her burns and making her feel a bit more energised. These lasers too separated into fireballs, which surrounded Kasumi again. However, this time they were much higher in number, meaning Kasumi couldn't slash them all away. She was hit by fireballs on her back, as well as some on her sides.

"How foolish of me…" Kasumi smiled, as she threw away her normal sword. "An avatar of a god can only be defeated by a legendary sword, I assume. I shouldn't have held this back all this time," she said, as she made a portal above her. Out from it, a large blade, wider at the bottom than a normal sword, was summoned. It was primarily blue and red in colour. "Durandal," she said, as she held the blade in two hands.

"I see, so you got your hands on that weapon too," Shou said, smiling slightly. "A battle between heavenly weapons it is, then. Aura of Justice."

Six lasers were fired down around Kasumi, as yellow arrowheads were descending in rows. Shou also fired large, yellow bullets at the martian. Kasumi smiled, as she flew upwards and slashed straight through the arrowheads, as well as slicing through the bullets that Shou fired out. The spell was immediately called off.

"Vajra of Perfect Buddhism," Shou said, as four green lasers were fired out around her, circling around as gems appeared where it made contact with Youkai mountain and the ground. Shou then shot out many red bullets to accompany them. Kasumi followed the lasers around, before raising her sword to block the red bullets being fired at her. She then charged straight forward, ready to end the battle.

"Tiger Sign, "Hungry Tiger"," Shou said, as she surrounded herself in yellow orbs, before charging at Kasumi. The yellow orbs detached from her body, making contact with Kasumi who dropped her defense as she went on the offense. The martian was shot back by the attack, sustaining a little damage as well. "Treasure Sign, "Dazzling Gold"," Shou said, as many curving lasers were summoned from her pagoda, overlapping with each other in many instances.

Kasumi threw off the cluster of yellow orbs and charged forward, dodging through the blizzard of yellow lasers, as some made contact with her and pierced through her body. This didn't phase her, however, as she got closer and closer to Shou. She raised her blade, and when she was close enough, stabbed Shou through the abdomen. "Worthy opponent," Kasumi said, pulling the Durandal out. "But it seems you are lacking in physical prowess." she added, as Shou too, was defeated and fell to the ground.

Kasumi looked down at her dangling right leg, as sweat was falling from her face. "Damn… let's hope the last opponent isn't too much…"

Kasumi flew up to the Palanquin ship, landing on it. However, she could only hop around on her one, functioning leg. Nazrin turned around as she landed. "A-ah! She beat Shou!" Nazrin said, as she abandoned the wheel and jumped through the hole in the deck that Ichirin had made.

"Hmph, I guess she isn't this 'Byakuren' i'm looking for," Kasumi said, as she looked around.

"That is correct," Byakuren said, as she walked up the stairs to appear above deck. "I happen to be Byakuren. Byakuren Hijiri. Your ally is downstairs. I'll release her if it means we can avoid unnecessary conflict."

"Tell me…" Kasumi said, turning around as she held the Durandal in two hands. "Are you more powerful than the Avatar of Bishamonten?"

"Oh my, straight to the point, are we?" Byakuren asked. "Do you not care for your ally?"

"I didn't come her for her," Kasumi said. "I figured this would be a simple errand and I could go back to my previous opponent with a true strategy in mind. But now I can't. Many adversary's here have gave me a run for my money, and I wish to know how much more powerful I truly need to get. So tell me, are you more powerful than the Avatar of Bishamonten?"

"...My power matters not," Byakuren said. "I wish to settle all things peacefully. Will you not hear my plea, human?"

"...No," Kasumi said, holding the Durandal in both her hands, as her now messy hair covered one eye. "I need to know… just how powerful was I all this time."

"Then you are in no mind to end things peacefully," Byakuren said. "You defeated all my allies, bar one. For them, I shall quell your rage."

Kasumi charged forward, the Durandal over head as she swung down at Byakuren. Byakuren raised her arm, as the sword was blocked by her arm. Byakuren deflected the sword, as she demonstrated great speed as she rushed past Kasumi before she could even react to her sword being deflected, attacking her as she did so. This caused Kasumi to stagger back into a kick from Byakuren, dealing much more damage than the rush past her did. Kasumi was thrown all the way across the ship, landing on the other end as half her body was hanging off the edge.

"I'm a magician who specializes in magic that increases my own physical attributes," Byakuren said, as she walked forward while Kasumi picked herself up. "Speed, defense, offense, all can be increased to high levels by me," she said, as Kasumi's sword split in half down the middle, as energy coursed through the middle. Byakuren assumed a defensive stance, as Kasumi thrusted the sword forward, causing a dragon made of light to appear out of the blade.

"Dragonic Strike," she said, as the dragon charged into Byakuren, pushing her to the other end of the ship as she was not lifted off her feet. Byakuren eventually managed to grab the dragon and throw it into the air. However, Kasumi had leapt into the air, and descended with an energised blade down onto Byakuren, who raised both arms to block the blade. She pushed the sword away, before being met with a flurry of strikes by Kasumi, which she moved her hands around to block, causing a few minor cuts to appear on them.

On the ground, Nazrin ran past all the allies that had been defeated as the ship sailed past Youkai mountain. First, she found Nue passed out on the ground, slightly to her north being Kogasa, also passed out. She then ran past Murasa and Ichirin to find her master, Shou, who was also passed out. Nazrin sighed looking at her, before she looked at the pagoda on the floor. She picked it up, and looked up at the Palanquin Ship.

Back on the ship, Byakuren clasped her hands together in a prayer-like fashion, as Kasumi closed in for a strike. Just before the strike connected, Byakuren opened her eyes as light beams were shot out in all directions except bellow her, blowing Kasumi back and causing her to be hurtled across the ground, and landing back at the other end of the ship. She wasted no time standing up, however, as she rushed towards Byakuren again. This time, Byakuren summoned a light weapon, similar to her own sword, and clashed with the energised Durandal. She lost the clash, however, as she was being forced back as their weapons clashed multiple times. Eventually, she used extra speed to find an opportunity to dodge beneath the Durandal swing, and respond with her own, quick sword combo.

Kasumi was sent backwards a bit, as she managed to block most of the combo. She then returned by raising her blade, as a dragon appeared from the sky. "Dragon's Descent!" she shouted, as the dragon flew at great speeds down towards Byakuren, who prepared to block it. This time, however, the power of strike caused her to lose her guard, as she was forced to take the attack directly. This caused her to sustain damage, as she was forced off the ship. The dragon disappeared before it could hit the ship.

As she was off the ship, Byakuren looked over to see Nazrin flying up with the Pagoda in hand. Her mouth opened a bit, before she smiled at the small girl flying up to assist. Byakuren too, flew back up and landed on the ship. "Not bad," She said, as she raised her hand. Behind her, a large, glowing orange fist appeared as well. "Heaven Sign, "Buddha's Fivefold Mountain"," she said, as she brought her hand down. This caused the fist to slam down as well, landing directly on Kasumi as it appeared to deal great damage. Kasumi staggered to her feet, as she raised her blade once again.

However, this time, a laser was fired at her from behind. This laser made direct contact with both of her arms, just below her elbows. This caused that part of her arms to be vaporised away, as both her hands fell to the ground, as did the Durandal. Kasumi turned around to see Nazrin, holding the Pagoda forward. "Y-you…" Kasumi said, before being cut off by a glowing sword being thrown through her.

"Heaven Sign, "Master of the Great Trichiliocosm"," Byakuren said, as she grabbed the sword and sliced through Kasumi, before turning around and using high speed to attack her multiple times in all directions, before going above her, ready to unleash a powerful kick.

"So this is how… my part ends…" Kasumi said, as she looked up at Byakuren. "Can't say I… saw this coming…"

Byakuren descended with her powerful kick, causing Kasumi to roll across the floor after coughing up a lot of blood, as well as bleeding all across the deck. When she stopped, she was defeated and passed out. The ship also began crashing down.

"Nazrin!" Byakuren said, turning to her before smiling. "Thank you. Now, get out of here. The pagoda could be used well somewhere else."

"Ah- I-I…" Nazrin said, struggling to get her words out. "Thank you, Master Byakuren!" she said, as she flew off the ship.

Kasumi's unconscious body rolled off the ship, as it fell towards the ground. Byakuren ran below deck to meet with Yorimi. "Apologies, but I had to subdue your ally."

"Heh, guess we're really starting to lose now, huh?" Yorimi asked. "I've been told over our ear chips that another one of us was defeated. Two down, two to go for you."

Byakuren smiled. "I'm letting you go," she said. "I see no reason to fight you as well. The ship is falling down now. I have no reason to hold onto you any longer."

Yorimi stood up. "Even though I could defeat some others here in Gensokyo…" she muttered. "Thanks anyway. Don't get yourself killed in this battle, either."

"Oh, I promise you I will not," Byakuren said, as Yorimi left. Byakuren also left after her, as the two flew their separate ways when they reached the deck.

Byakuren landed on the ground where Kasumi was lying. She shook her head, before checking her heartbeat. "She's alive… good," Byakuren whispered to herself, before she flew off to check on her allies. When she found Shou, however, she also met Kaguya, Mai and Satono, who were carrying all the fallen allies. "I see, you're caring for the wounded?"

Kaguya looked over to Byakuren. "The Buddhist monk from Myouren Temple…" she said. "Yes, indeed we are. How are things for you?"

"I defeated one of the Martians, but at the cost of all the fallen allies you see around you," Byakuren said, before thinking for a moment. "I'll help you. Fighting isn't my thing, so i'll tend to the wounded with you. Here, hand her over to me." She said to Kaguya, who was holding Ichirin. Byakuren also knelt down and picked up Shou.

"We head for the Bamboo Forest," Kaguya said. "I have a doctor there caring for the wounded."

Byakuren nodded, as the four of them flew back to Eientei.

The noise of the fighting had woken up Kanako, who observed the battling and went over to where Kasumi had landed. She picked her up. "Honestly, you woke up everyone on Youkai Mountain. That's bad for you guys. The tengu, Sanae and Suwako, even that Hermit are ready to join the fight now, and you're down a fighter," she said, before flying back to the Moriya Shrine with her in hand.


	18. Plan to Strike Back! - Day Breaks!

Hiroko looked over to where the Palanquin Ship was falling out of the sky. She bit her lip slightly out of annoyance. "Another one down…" Hiroko muttered. "Then there's three of us left standing. One of which I can't get in contact with right now, and the other isn't much of a fighter. Honestly, must I do everything myself?"

"You've got less than an hour before the first glimpse of sunrise," Eirin said, now visibly a little exhausted from about four hours of fighting. "Hope you planned to take more out than just this."

"Eight of you are down, compared to two of us," Hiroko said. "We still have our two strongest pieces in play, even if one of them isn't available for contact. How many of your strongest pieces are left, Eirin?"

"Well, there's me," Eirin said, raising one finger. "The Sages, the Shrine Maiden, the Flower Youkai, the sisters. We have quite a few."

"And they're all asleep right now," Hiroko said, looking over at the moon. "In that case, we'll have to deal with who we can as quickly as possible."

"I wouldn't count all of them out," another voice said, as Kasen approached the two of them, standing next to Eirin. "The commotion at the mountain caused a few more of our pieces to awaken. You choose a good time to attack, but to throw it all away with such noise is a real shame."

"...Ibaraki Kasen, a sage disguised as a hermit, fan of animals," Hiroko recited as she looked at her. Upon the sage remark, Kasen narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Keep that a secret," Kasen said to Eirin, who simply nodded. "Well, you're the leader, right?"

"That I am," Hiroko said. "And another of you sages is fighting our second most powerful piece. Taking two down before sunrise would be more than ideal."

Kasen glanced over to Eirin. "Hope you don't mind a bit of back up."

"Of course not," Eirin said. "Taking out their most powerful piece before sunrise would be more than ideal," she said, mimicking Hiroko's words. Hiroko smiled slightly as she took another card between two of her fingers.

"Blindness Card," she said, as she threw it at Kasen. Eirin intercepted it by standing in front of Kasen, taking the lack of sight for herself, realising the fact that Kasen would not survive after being taken down once. Kasen used said opportunity to fly above Eirin, changing her bandaged arm into a powerful, jaw-like thing that clamped down Hiroko, who dodged by moving backwards. The jaw clamp was followed by the bandages extending around Hiroko, wrapping her into a cocoon, before she was thrown straight down into the ground.

While this was happening, Eirin unleashed a powerful spell upon herself, making sure it would be strong enough to kill her. This caused her to be regenerated and gain her sight back. Upon seeing Hiroko being thrown to the ground, she muttered some words that Kasen couldn't make out, as she raised her hand towards Hiroko, causing a cage of light to form around her as she was on the ground. From intersections in the light net of the cage, lasers were fired into it, which all connected with each other, before releasing a pillar of light. Kasen had to shield herself from the light emitted by the attack, as the light was seen by everyone else who was still awake in Gensokyo.

"Such a powerful attack…" Kasen said. "Lunarian spell, I assume?"

Eirin nodded. "A fairly high end one at that. That light pillar is said to greatly damage even the most powerful of the Celestial Gods."

After the attack faded, Hiroko hovered up, having lost her breath from the attack as damage was sustained all over her body. "As expected from a... Celestial God yourself."

Kasen looked over to Eirin as she said that. "You have your secrets, I have mine," Eirin said, before turning to Hiroko. "Well, looks like high-end Lunarian magic does the trick well against you. I'm starting to see flaws in your seemingly impenetrable defense."

Hiroko sighed, as she summoned three green cards with hearts on them, before tossing them into the air. Green dust was sprinkled over her, as her wounds were healed. "How can you assume such a thing? You don't know what the other cards in my hand are."

"Indeed I do not," Eirin nodded. "However, I believe i've seen more than one fifth of your cards by now. With allies beginning to wake up, it shall not be long until I get a grasp of everything you can do."

Hiroko nodded, as she raised another card. "I believe it is about time I revealed my high end attacks to you as well."

Eirin's face became more serious upon hearing those words. "Watch out," she said to Kasen. "Unlike me, you won't regenerate if you die."

"I know," Kasen nodded. Hiroko threw her card in the air, as it disappeared and went into the sky.

"Heaven Card," she said, as the clouds above her separated. From the sky, many light beams, similar to that of Eirin's attack, rained down from the sky. Eirin's eyes widened slightly, as she once again muttered some lunarian words and made a shield above them, stopping the lasers from raining down. As each laser made contact with the shield, cracks appeared in it. Kasen rushed forward, going underneath Hiroko and and punching her with her bandaged arm, before turning it into a jaw which fired launched Hiroko back with blue force.

"Drop your shield when I say to," Kasen shouted over to Eirin, as the Lunarian reluctantly nodded. Hiroko threw seven cards into the air, each shooting out a thin laser that was reflected by other cards thrown behind Kasen. Kasen dodged up towards the martian, as she summounded Mukou the Raijuu into her bandaged arm, whipping it at Hiroko to stun her a bit. "Now!" Kasen shouted, as she unravelled her bandaged arm and wrapped it around Hiroko again. The shield disappeared, as the powerful lasers rained down from the sky. Kasen span around with Hiroko inside her cocoon, as the cocoon made contact with many of the raining lasers.

Eirin flew through the lasers and up to where the card was floating above Gensokyo, grabbing it and examining it for a second. "I see," Eirin said, instantly realising the magic of how it worked. She muttered some Lunarian words once again, as gravity around her seemed to flip entirely, and the lasers came up towards the Gensokyo barrier and making contact with Hiroko again. Eirin created a field around the card using sorcery, causing all the lasers to come back into the card and get absorbed by it. "Let go of her now!" Eirin shouted down to Kasen, who threw a damaged Hiroko up to Eirin. "Astronomical Entombing," Eirin said, creating a round cage around Hiroko and locking her in. "Watch the barrier, sage!" Eirin said, as she went to the side of Hiroko and threw the card forward. Kasen nodded as she flew as fast as she could towards the Genokyo barrier.

The heaven card released all the contained energy within it, firing a large laser of pure light straight through the orbs of Eirin's Astronomical Entombing and making direct contact with Hiroko. Hiroko let out and audible scream through the orbs as the laser hit her. Kasen, on the other end of Gensokyo, unwrapped her bandaged arm again and made a shield against it, which pushed her back against the barrier. She looked back as she heard a crack, seeing the barrier crack slightly. "Tsk, this has to work," Kasen said, as she spun herself around in a tornado of bandages, wrapping the laser up with it.

Eirin put an arrow into her bow and aimed it at Hiroko as the laser began to die down. It glowed with light, as it grew in size. "This shot is for all those from the Lunar Capital. For those Moon Rabbits, for Sagume and Lord Tsukuyomi. Those who laid down their lives to protect the capital that you took from them. Now, feel their pain," she said, as the laser disappeared and she released the arrow, striking through Hiroko as she appeared heavily damage from the heaven laser, even with her arms crossed in a defensive position. The arrow had a short thread of light behind it, which as it struck through Hiroko, wrapped around her and enveloped her in a thin string of light. The string expanded, before it erupted into light many large, light balls which all combined into a focus around Hiroko. The giant ball then imploded into its centre, before it exploded in a large about of magical power.

Once the light disappeared, Hiroko floated still, severely damaged as her head was twirling around. She fell towards the ground, with many of the red ribbons that previously decorated her dress ripped straight off as well. She landed on her back against the ground, looking up as she raised her arm, looking through blurry vision as she tried to get a heal card.

Kasen stopped spinning in the tornado once the laser stopped firing, as bits of the energy was released across many parts of Gensokyo. She watched as Hiroko fell through the sky, before turning to the crack in the barrier. She placed her hand on it and closed her eyes. Suddenly, however, she felt another hand grab her wrist, which caused her to open her eyes and gasp slightly. From the crack in the barrier, Yukari pulled herself out, and into Gensokyo, as she let go of Kasen.

"Thanks for the wake up call," Yukari said, as she looked across Gensokyo, currently in a fairly damaged state. "How's everything going?"

Kasen seemed displeased at Yukari's sudden entrance, before she growled and gave in. "The Lunarian sage may have just defeated their leader, green hair, ribbons on her dress. The Palanquin ship fell and one was defeated over there, but the green haired one seemed to imply that another one of their forces was defeated. In that case, there's at least two down, possibly three. What are you going to do?"

"Where's Okina?" Yukari asked, ignoring Kasen's question, which seemed to annoy her a bit.

"Not a clue," Kasen said. "Haven't seen her."

Yukari sighed. "I'm going to wake everyone up, get them fighting, just to be safe. You fix the barrier the best you can, then rendezvous with Eirin and tell her to be on standby to. I'm going to need both of you for something later. Try to get in contact with Okina if you can, too. Ran, Chen, you know what to do."

As Yukari said that, Ran flew out of a gap made by Yukari. "Understood," Ran said, as she flew towards the Human Village. Chen popped out of one of her tails and waved at the two sages as they flew away. Kasen shook her head.

"Of all nights to sleep early," Kasen said, as she turned back to the barrier. Yukari didn't seem to move, though. "What is it now?"

"Kasen," Yukari said, turning around as she smiled. "Looks like your on my side now," she said, as Kasen narrowed her eyes at her.

"We'll see how long that lasts," Kasen said, as Yukari opened a gap in front of herself and exited through that.

"Lady Yagokoro!" Yorihime shouted as she flew up towards her master. "Did you win? Did you defeat her?"

Eirin glanced at Yorihime, before looking down at Hiroko, still conscious, on the ground. "Perhaps not yet. But it shouldn't be long now. Yukari has entered the fray, she'll bring order, even if the one down there gets up."

"May I assist you, if she does wake up, Lady Yagokoro?" Yorihime asked. "My other opponent left for that ship that fell, but never came back. I can only assume she lost."

"Hmm…" Eirin said, as she looked at her hand. "I've used up an alarming amount of magical power. If she isn't down for the count, it's very likely I will lose. Very well, Yorihime. You may stay here."

Yorihime smiled as she heard this, before bowing to her master. "My thanks, Lady Yagokoro," Yorihime said, as she looked down to Hiroko, still struggling to move on the ground. "Should we not knock her unconscious, to be safe?"

"...Yes, go ahead," Eirin said, as Yorihime nodded. She flew down and landed next to Hiroko, with her blade raised. She struck down on the Martian.

In the land of doors, Kaiya brought a bright, flaming sword to her side. Both her and Okina appeared to be worn out from the fighting, but Kaiya would appear to have a slight edge. Okina was originally seated in a chair, however she got out of it and dismissed it away. Kaiya charged at Okina, who dodged to original attack. However, Kaiya threw the sword behind her and teleported towards it, swinging the sword across from Okina's behind and as Okina dodged. Okina then made seven large laser swords appear, with one of them hitting Kaiya, who teleported out of the way. Kaiya then threw her sword towards Okina, teleporting away as Okina went through a door. They went much, much further into the land of doors as the sword turned into an actual star, before it disappeared.

"Interesting ability," Okina said. "Using celestial bodies as your power. I see why you needed to come here."

"This is honestly getting boring," Kaiya said, as she placed a hand on the side of her hat. "We've been here for how many hours and hardly anything's changed between us. Got any special tricks to liven things up?"

"You've seen most of my strongest attacks already," Okina sighed. "Yet you're still standing. I can't believe how powerful you really are."

"Oh really? In that case, would you mind withdrawing from the fight so I can focus on something else?" Kaiya said, before yawning. "Or else I might just fall asleep."

"No can do," Okina said, as went through a door to appear behind Kaiya, striking her with a combo of her punches and kicks, which sent Kaiya flying down. Kaiya stopped herself, before raising her hand as the equivalent of all the asteroids in the asteroid belt appeared behind her.

"Asteroid Shower," Kaiya said, as she sent them all flying towards Okina. Okina opened a door behind her, trying to go through it. "Gravity Pull," Kaiya said, as Okina was pulled towards one of the asteroids by intense gravity instead. Some of the asteroids hit Okina, as most of them missed and disappeared behind her. Kaiya yawned, as Okina recovered from the attack, looking increasingly more worn out. "Don't feel bad. There's only one other person who I know that is stronger than me. You've actually damage me more than I was counting on. Definitely… stronger than that vampire girl by a lot."

Okina smiled, as she raised her hand. "Senbonzakura," she said, as thousands of small, almost invisible cherry-blossom like blades appeared in the space, before being fired around. Kaiya, not knowing where the cherry blossoms were, instead chose to block as many as she could, however she found herself being cut in many places, none too deep to cause much concern. "Rays of Summer," she said, as many orange lasers, representing summer, appeared and concentrated on Kaiya. As the thousands of blades had not disappeared yet, Kaiya was forced to take the brunt of the lasers. "Falling leaves," Okina said, as orange leaves began slowly floating down, before turning into bullets and raining focusing on Kaiya. "Sharp Winter's Blizzard," Okina said, as a blizzard, holding icey knives, whipped up around them and struck at Kaiya. There was a point, if only for a few seconds, where the beauty and destructive power of all four seasons was on display all at once.

Once the lasers of summer had cleared tho, Kaiya found herself able to move. Her right arm was frozen over, as cuts had appeared all over her body and she was severely damaged from the lasers and bullets brought by summer and autumn. This didn't stop her from teleporting behind Okina and placing a hand against her back, however. Instead of trying to dodge, Okina smiled instead. "Now i've no more tricks."

"The last one… really got me…" Kaiya panted, as she released the power of a star into a force blast, which caused Okina to cough blood and her spine to audibly crack slightly, as she fell endlessly through the land of doors. "She… shouldn't be dead…" Kaiya said, as she looked around. "Time… to get outta here…"

As she said that, she teleported back to just outside the Myouren Temple, in the woods. She went against a tree, before lying down. "Well now… that's over. Time to get a bit of… sleep… finally…" she said, as she fell asleep on the grounds of Gensokyo.

Ran and Chen touched down in the human village, as many humans were panicked from the fights going on everywhere, as some had destroyed some houses. "Everyone!" Ran shouted. "Calm yourselves! I have a message from Mistress Yukari!"

"Yukari!?" A man shouted at Ran. "That Youkai! It's all her fault any of this is happening! It's all her fault my house was destroyed!"

Ran narrowed her eyes at the man, as she sighed. "What's going on?" a voice asked behind her, as Ran and Chen turned around to see Hieda no Akyuu, along with Kosuzu Motoori and Rinnosuke Morichika.

"An invasion," Ran replied. "Martians from Mars are attacking Gensokyo. But we're fighting back well, they should be subdued within the next five hours, at most."

"I see," Rinnosuke said. "So you're here to calm the humans and make sure they don't do something rash?" Ran nodded, as Akyuu stepped in front of them.

"Ahem," Akyuu said. "Everyone! Everything is getting under control! The threat will be subdued before it grows any larger!" as she spoke, the humans stopped to listen to her. "We may be threatened right now, by enemies much more threatening than youkai, but it's those youkai who are fighting for us now! Ran here will personally make sure Yukari pays for any damage done, and will make sure the threat of youkai as well is lessened! They are fighting for us right now, so quell your prejudice for now, please!"

"What are we meant to do?" A woman spoke up. "Anywhere we go, there's a chance a stray laser might kill us!" she shouted, as the humans grew increasing out of control again. Akyuu sighed as this happened.

"They're so out of control…" Chen sighed.

"Understandably…" Akyuu said, as she coughed again. "Everyone, calm down! I have a plan! We will migrate to the Hakurei Shrine and wait there until this all calms down! The Hakurei Shrine is an important place to Gensokyo, the youkai will make sure that place is protected! Ran here will be our escort!"

"All of us won't fit in one shrine!" a man shouted, as the crowd of people nodded in agreement.

"Then leave that to me," another voice said, as wind zipped past all of them as someone at blazing speed flew past them and landed in front of them. "Aya Shameimaru of the Bunbunmaru Newspaper will lead a group to the Moriya Shrine and Tengu Village! There, the gods of the mountain and the shrine maiden will look after you all, they promised!"

An overwhelming amount of people wished to go to the Moriya Shrine than to the Hakurei Shrine. "Looks like one shrine's the clear winner here," Rinnosuke said, as he looked at the people. "Still, a small village and two shrines won't be enough to accommodate so many people."

"I-in that case," another voice said behind them, as Nazrin walked up to the ground, with the Jewelled Pagoda of Bishamonten hidden behind her back. "T-the Myouren Shrine is open to anyone who wishes to come! It'll be a longer walk, but the pagoda of the god Bishamonten will light the way!" she shouted, as she held up the pagoda.

"Making decisions independent of Byakuren…" Ran muttered. "Interesting, from her…"

"In that case!" Akyuu spoke up again. "Everyone who wants to go to the Moriya Shrine, line up with Aya over there! Everyone who wants to go to Myouren Temple, line up with the mouse girl over there! And anyone who wants to go to the Hakurei Shrine, line up with Ran other there!" Akyuu shouted, as she pointed to the places that each of the three went over to.

The people who went towards Aya were saying things along the lines of 'This god has done so much for us' and 'How kind of the Moriya Shrine'. Almost for completely opposite reasons it seemed, people who went over to Nazrin were saying things more along the lines of 'I've never seen her before' and 'she's cute', which caused the mouse to feel slightly uneasy. Not many people went towards Shou, however, causing roughly fifty-five percent of people going to the Moriya Shrine, forty percent of people going to the Myouren Temple and a maximum of five percent going to the Hakurei Shrine.

Akyuu laughed slightly. "I'm afraid we will need more people for the Hakurei Shrine and less people in the other places!" she shouted, as people reluctantly went towards Shou, causing a split more along the lines of forty percent for Moriya Shrine, thirty-five percent for Myouren Temple and twenty-five percent for Hakurei Shrine. "That will work!" Akyuu shouted again. "Now, everyone, safe travels!" With that, everyone walked off, Chen following Ran after having been dragged away from chasing after Nazrin. Rinnosuke went with Nazrin, and Akyuu and Kosuzu went with Aya to the Moriya Shrine.

At the Hakurei Shrine, Yukari's top half popped out of the gap, as she grabbed a feather duster and tickled Reimu's face with it. "Reimu, wake up," she said, as Reimu thrashed around and knocked the feather duster away. Reimu quickly sat up and looked at Yukari.

"Yukari! What do you want!" Reimu shouted, more demanding than questioning. "Do you want to be exterminated that ba-"

"The Martians are here," Yukari said, as Reimu stopped and pursed her lips.

"...I see," Reimu said, standing up. "In that case, i'll go get Marisa. But after i've exterminated them, you're next."

Yukari smiled as Reimu said that. "I'd expect nothing less of you," Yukari said. "Everything has been going well so far. I hope you won't mess it up."

After saying this, Yukari disappeared through her gap, leaving Reimu shaking her head. Reimu then went out of the shrine and flew over to the Forest of Magic.

Where Hiroko had fallen, Yorihime had struck down at her body. However, as she did, her body turned into cards and flew past Yorihime, as she rematerialised and staggered around, coughing up blood as she did. Yorihime narrowed her eyes as she did, flying up and attempting to strike her again. Hiroko turned into cards once again, as she rematerialised further away and reached for her heal card. She threw five of them up into the air, however, Yorihime sliced through all five of them, cutting them in half and negating their ability. She then brought her sword down on Hiroko, who raised an arm to block it. As she did, however, the blade sliced straight through her arm, cutting the bottom half below her elbow clean off.

"Grr…" Hiroko muttered. "Y-y-you... No… I m-must retreat… now…." she said, as turned into cards to dodge another attack, before retreating into the Garden of the Sun.

"Persistent…" Yorihime muttered, as she quickly flew to the Garden of the Sun. She found Hiroko quickly, as she was trying to get a heal card. Hiroko bit her lip, as she staggered backwards to dodge the full front of a wide slash, instead getting cut across her abdomen. She growled, as she once again turned into cards and retreated further into the Garden. Yorihime tried to look for her, but failed to. "Tsk… she got away."

Yorihime flew back up to Eirin. "My apologies, Lady Yagokoro. She managed to escape."

"Don't worry about it," Eirin said, as she looked down towards Eientei. "I doubt she'll come back to fight me now. She may fear permanent loss this time," she said, as she looked over to Kasen, who finished fixing the barrier and was now flying back. "Sorry for the inconvenience."

"Did we win?" Kasen asked, as Eirin paused for a moment, before nodding.

"Technically, we did win the fight," Eirin said. "However, she escaped. She won't be down and out for the count just yet, unfortunately."

Kasen sighed, as she looked down at Gensokyo. "Well, we did well. We know her weakness, after all."

"What is it?" Yorihime asked, as she looked at the two of them.

"She's very powerful, but her weakness is that very same power being used against her," Eirin said. "I figured as such, the only way to beat someone so strong is with their own power."

"I see…" Yorihime said. "Well, what should we do now, Lady Yagokoro?"

"Eirin," Kasen said. "Yukari said she wants us on standby. I assume she has something planned for the both of us to do."

Eirin nodded. "I see," Eirin said. "Then we shall wait."

A few minutes later, Yukari flew up to the group. "Now, everything seems to be in working order," she said, as she looked around at the three of them. "Meddlesome Lunarian Sage, you will accompany me."

Yorihime raised her blade upon hearing at how Yukari referred to Eirin, as Eirin lowered her blade. "Accompany you where?"

"Yuyuko and Youmu have gone to the moons on Mars," Yukari said. "Based on the book, there should be cards keeping the city invisible. We're going to meddle with it, which should cause Hiroko to become concerned. We'll make her come our way, causing the rest of the Martian's here to be in scrambles. When she comes back to the city, you, me, Youmu and Yuyuko will ambush her and take her down, while everyone here will mop up the rest of the Martians that are still here. That's my strategy to take her down."

"I see," Eirin said. "You saw how I fought against her before, right? So you wanted me to help. I'll accept that plan. Where are we to go?"

"We're going directly inside the city," Yukari said. "To investigate. See what we find."

' _Then we can see that Nuwa…'_ Eirin thought, as she looked up. "Understood. We will free Lord Tsukuyomi and Lady Sagume, right?"

Yukari nodded. "Sure, sure, of course."

"Where do I come into this?" Kasen asked.

"Since we can't find Okina and i'll be leaving Gensokyo, you will be in charge of Gensokyo until i'm back. In other words, you're leading the defense and are the king in this chess game, for now," Yukari said, as Kasen's eyes widened, before she nodded. "I've set up the Hakurei Shrine as your base. Feel free to monitor everything that's happening. Just don't lose."

Kasen nodded. "Of course I won't," Kasen said, as she flew down to the Hakurei Shrine.

"Watatsuki sister," Yukari said. "Get your sister and look for Hiroko. The two of you will be holding her off for now."

Yorihime reluctantly nodded. "Understood…" she muttered, as she flew down to Eientei to meet with Toyohime. Yukari opened a gap in front of her and Eirin.

"Well, shall we?" Yukari said, as Eirin walked through first, with Yukari following and closing the gap behind her.

Aya led the group to just outside the Youkai Mountain, before her eyes widened and she raised her fan to the side. In front of her, all the remaining Martian Henchmen had banded up in one force, and was attacking the Youkai Mountain, getting into a fight with the Tengu. "Sorry about this," Aya said, as she looked behind her at the humans. "This won't take long. Get back to the village, i'll come back soon."

The humans nodded, as they ran back to the human village as quickly as they could. Aya flew up above them, looking around to see Momiji Inubashiri swinging her blade and blocking with her shield, as well as Hatate Himekaidou observing from the mountain. Aya shook her head, as she raised her fan and blew a tornado at the force, whipping them up and throwing them away. "Seems the leader of this rag tag group isn't here…" Aya muttered, as she continued blowing wind blasts at the enemies.

Yorimi, being the one that had gathered the Martian Henchmen together, had left the battle and was watching from afar. Her plan was to sneak around the mountain and assault the leader of the Tengu while they were off guard, but she stopped to make sure all was going well.

"Team Nine, get her!" A voice said, as Cirno, Rumia, Daiyousei, Wriggle and Mystia jumped out at her. "Well, well, well, look at this catch."

Yorimi sighed. "An ambush against me?" she asked, smiling slightly. "You should know, I am by far the strongest of all Martians," she lied, attempting to make them flee.

"Good, I am the strongest of all people in Gensokyo!" Cirno claimed. "Now, Team Nine, it's time to play our part."

The sun began to rise over Gensokyo, as the daylight lit up Gensokyo.


	19. Forgotten Strong Will! - The Dragon God!

As the people who we're bound for the Myouren Temple were walking up the stairs, from within the trees that surrounded either side, Kaiya opened one eye to see the people walking up. ' _Honestly,'_ she thought, as she closed her eye again. ' _If you're coming all the way here for safety, at least be more quiet.'_

Once they reached the Myouren Temple, and all the people were gathered in the section directly in front of the temple, Nazrin spoke up to all of them, with Rinnosuke at her side. "U-Um…" she said. "I'll be having some mice guard the perimeter so, if you see any don't freak out. Also, you can make yourselves at home as much as you like. Just don't destroy anything."

The crowd thanked her, as they all went off to different parts of the shrine, many of them offering donations for the service provided. Behind the temple, Nazrin was sat down, against the wall. She began thinking about what Byakuren had told her, about how the pagoda could be used well elsewhere, as she looked down at it. ' _Did she mean I should fight using it? No, Byakuren would never advocate using it for that. I guess… doing this was the best I could think of. I wish she could've told me more about what to do,'_ she sighed, as she looked up towards the now brighter sky. Her thoughts were interrupted by a mouse that ran over to her. Nazrin picked up the mouse, and brought it up to her ear.

"Huh?" Nazrin asked, as she quickly got to her feet. She lay the mouse back down and ran into the forest.

Nazrin followed the mouse around the forest, with her Pagoda ready in hand. When she reached the object of the mouse's worries, she looked at it in surprise. There she was, a Martian, sleeping idly against a tree like nothing was happening. She seemed highly weakened, obvious damage sustained across her body, but her black hat and long brown hair seemed surprisingly safe, almost like she went out of her way to protect those aspects. ' _A Martian… falling asleep at this time?'_ Nazrin thought, as she raised her Pagoda, ready to fire a laser at her. As she did, however, the Martian opened one eye and seemed to teleport away from the laser, as gems appeared where the laser struck the ground.

"Can I not get some sleep in peace?" Kaiya complained, as she stretched her arms. "What do you want?"

"W-what do I want?" Nazrin asked, as she shook her head. "I want you to leave the humans alone! Failure to comply and i'll have to force you to go away!"

"I don't think I was doing anything to the humans…" Kaiya said, as she sighed. "Fine, i'll go away. I don't want to cause any harm to people not involved anyway," she said, as she looked at the Pagoda. "Nice lantern."

"I used this to vaporise the arms of your sword user, and i'll do it to you too!" Nazrin threatened.

"That's cute," Kaiya joked, as she looked at the gems. "Mind if I take some?"

"Uh-Um…" Nazrin thought, as she looked at the gems. As she did, however, Kaiya knelt down next to some and scooped them up in her hat.

"Thank you very much," Kaiya said, as she walked away from her, causing Nazrin to breathe a sigh of relief.

' _At least she's gone,'_ Nazrin thought to herself.

Meanwhile, on the furthest edge of the Garden of the Sun, Hiroko reached into her pocket and pulled out her deck of cards, as she flicked one off with her only remaining arm, and it split into five. The five of them went above her head and sprinkled down green dust on her, making her feel rejuvenated and healing her of her wounds, but not regenerating her arm. "Lunarian Sage, no, you who changed your name to Eirin," Hiroko muttered, as she looked up to see Eirin exiting through the gap. "To think… someone from back then was residing here as well."

As she was speaking, however, Kaiya teleported next to her. "See you've lost an arm and some of those cute ribbons of yours," she said in a joking tone.

"I see all your limbs are in tact, but everything except your hat and hair have been cut," Hiroko responded, as Kaiya smiled. "Who did you fight?"

"A vampire and her maid, then one of the sages," Kaiya said, as she yawned. "Beat all three of them, but the sage lulled me into a false sense of security and struck back with a surprise flurry of attacks. So I went to sleep but was woke up by some mouse-looking girl. What about you?"

"You went to sleep?" Hiroko asked, as Kaiya nodded in response. "Anyway, I was fighting a Lunarian Sage who was here, and then she teamed up with a Gensokyo Sage. They used one of my strongest attacks against me, as the Lunarian Sage struck me with one of her most powerful blows. I was on the verge of passing out, but I retreated and found myself here. The Lunarian Sage left, along with the Youkai of Boundaries. Two of my greatest concerns are now out of the equation, but the sisters from the moon are here now."

"You mean to tell me that you've not even taken one down after all this time?" Kaiya asked jokingly, as Hiroko seemed slightly displeased. "So, i'm on three, you, Saiko and Yorimi are on zero. How many did Kasumi rack up?"

"Five, I believe," Hiroko said, as Kaiya sighed. "And the one who beat Saiko also burned herself out. You can credit that to her."

"So, three more to go and i'm in the lead," Kaiya joked, as she smiled. "Anyway, got any spares?"

"You used both?" Hiroko asked, as Kaiya shook her head.

"Nah, I just thought it'd be best to not burn through my supply," she said, as Hiroko sighed and flicked one card off the bottom of her deck, which split into two. Kaiya grabbed both and threw them in the air, healing her wounds.

"Good as new," Kaiya said. "Good thing i've still got both my arms, huh? Anyway, why don't we just retreat for now? If you're getting beaten down, it may just be a matter of time before we lose."

"No," Hiroko shook her head. "We'll keep going."

"What happened? You were the one against this, but now you're more into it than I am. C'mon, what's your secret?"

"Secret?" Hiroko asked, as Kaiya smiled. "I… have no secret."

"Is it about the leader of the city?" Kaiya asked, as Hiroko looked up at her with a slightly narrowed right eye. "Guessing that's a yes. Look, whatever it is it has to be dear to you. So, i'll keep helping you out. What best friends do, isn't it?"

Hiroko looked away slightly. "Yeah… sure…" she muttered, as she looked back at her. "Saiko was beaten up north. You go there and check her body for her heal cards. I'll let you have a stock of four."

"Nice," Kaiya smiled. "Hey, how about this? If I beat ten people first, we'll retreat and you have to reward me for a valiant effort. If you beat ten people first, we'll keep going and i'll reward you for… something."

"And if Yorimi gets ten first?"

"Then colour me impressed," Kaiya joked, as Hiroko nodded to her offer. "Alright then, north I go. Don't go losing anything else on me, alright?" she said, as she teleported away. Hiroko smiled after the interaction, before looking up at where Eirin once was. Now, Yorihime and Toyohime were both up there. She looked down at her missing arm, before flying up to meet them.

Kaiya found Saiko passed out, with burns covering her body, as her left arm seemed completely destroyed. "What is it with everyone losing arms today? Saiko, Kasumi and Hiroko all lost them. It's like someone doesn't have any ideas for other ways to show damage. At least go for a leg once or twice," she said, as she searched the body of her fallen comrade. She found remains of what once were two cards, however the were scorched and crumbled to ash as they were touched. Kaiya sighed in disappointment, as she took one of her own cards out, and threw it above Saiko, causing the green dust to sprinkle over her and remedy some wounds. "That should be enough to ensure survival," she said, as her eyes glowed red and she teleported Saiko away.

"A Martian already," a voice said behind her, as she spun around. "You weren't that hard to find," she said as dolls appeared to be surrounding her.

"Oh hey, a Gensokyo resident," Kaiya said, as she tipped her hat to her. "Kaiya Amari, Minister of Discovery. Pleased to make your acquaintance, doll user. Mind adding one to my counter?"

"Counter?" Alice asked, as she narrowed her eyes. "Is this some game to you?"

"Well I have an ongoing game with our leader, yes," Kaiya said. "But if you're referring to killing, we made an agreement not to kill anyone we come across. I've held up that end of the deal. We simply just need to knock you into submission."

"Do you really think that'll work?" Alice asked.

"Nah," Kaiya admitted quickly, taking Alice by surprise. "Our leader is by far the smartest person here, but she's so flustered about something she's not given us proper orders. We're mostly just fighting until you give up or we lose. We've already lost two strong allies of ours, so now it's just me, our leader, and the weakest of our bunch. Even if I beat the vampire, her maid and a sage, I've been shown that my endurance isn't infinite. If you have a lot of people hiding, i'll probably lose. And we've seen someone who's forced even our leader to retreat, heavily wounded and without an arm. I honestly do doubt myself that we'll pull this off."

"The vampire, you mean Remilia, Sakuya… and a Sage…" Alice thought. "Yukari just left, so it must've been some other one. You seem strong, fighting you alone may be a grave mistake on my part, so i'm afraid I won't accept your offer."

"Aww, what a shame," Kaiya sighed, as she looked around at the burnt area, before focusing on the book in Alice's hand. "What's the book about?"

"Nothing i'll be showing to you, if you're not the master," Alice said, as she looked up at Hiroko fighting the two lunarians. "Is that her?"

"If it is?"

"Then i'll just have to wait my turn."

Meanwhile, up in the air, Toyohime raised her fan and whispered to Yorihime. "What's the plan? Completely destroy her and win easily, as we always do?"

"No, destroy her other arm," Yorihime said. "That's our first priority. That way, she won't be able to draw her cards. The cards are the source of her power."

"Whatever you say," Toyohime joked, as she raised her fan and launched a blast at Hiroko, who dodged the blast by moving to the side. Yorihime used this chance to close in, her sword raised to slice at Hiroko's other arm. Hiroko raised her now healed arm, as the sword hit her arm, but was deflected easily.

"Tsk," Yorihime sighed, as she raised her sword. "Izanagi," she said, as a spirit came down to her body. Hiroko and the Spirit seemed to exchange a glance of familiarity as the spirit descended, as Yorihime took its power. The power manifested into a new sword, as Hiroko's eyes widened at seeing it. "Ten-Grasp Sword!" Yorihime shouted, as she sliced at Hiroko, on the side of her remaining arm, as a powerful energy surrounded it. Hiroko reached into her pocket and flicked a card off, as a shield appeared to block the sword.

"Purging Card," she said, as the energy from the sword began dissipating as it continued clashing with the shield. Toyohime managed to sneak behind Hiroko during the ordeal, as she elbowed Hiroko in the back, before following up with a kick that sent her flying across the sky, before she launched another blast from her fan at her. The blast hit her this time, as it caused her to wince in pain and damage to begin appearing across her body.

"Oh? She's taking it," Toyohime said, as she raised fan over her mouth. "First time I've seen anyone survive a blast from my fan," she said, as Hiroko managed to push the blast away with some sort of magic power. She flicked a card off her deck, as it went above her and healed her.

While she was busy healing, Yorihime, in almost blinding speed, closed the gap between her and the martian, swinging down at her from above. Hiroko summoned a magic sword, as she blocked the attack. The two exchanged clashes for a few seconds, with Hiroko clearly on the defensive as she was forced to block attacks from a two-handed sword using only one hand. Hiroko found a chance to dodge, as she dismissed the blade and raised her hand, summoning a magic circle, as an explosion was blasted out of it, causing Yorihime to fly backwards.

"My turn," Toyohime said, as she attacked with her fan from below Hiroko. The Martian dodged the attack, as she flicked a card off her hand. However, as she tried to do so, Toyohime's fan glowed with magical power, as the magic power grew into a sword-like weapon. Toyohime sliced at the card, as it cut in half, before she attacked Hiroko with her the weapon, who was struck by it a few times. Hiroko, however, managed to find an opportunity to turn into cards and fly past Toyohime, materialising behind her. She placed her hand against Toyohime's back, with a card in it. Toyohime smiled as she felt the press against her, as raised her hand and muttered some Lunarian words. When the laser from the card was fired out, Toyohime seemed to dissolve into light, as the laser passed through her. After dissolving into light, the light turned into multiple lasers, as she went through Hiroko. Some of the lasers missed, but some pierced straight through the Martian's body, as the lasers materialised into Toyohime.

"Been a while since I got to use some lunar magic," Toyohime said, as she opened her fan and fanned herself. "I was worried I might lose my touch. Sorry if mine isn't as strong as master Yagokoro."

Hiroko bit her lip, as she flicked a card off again. As she did, though, she was struck by a lightning strike by Yorihime, who used the power of Honoikazuchi. Yorihime flew up to her, as she struck at her with her blade, aiming for her arm. When the attack connected, a cut appeared on Hiroko's arm, as Yorihime forced the blade deeper. The cut deepened further, as Hiroko struggled to find a card, before she snapped her finger and used magic to cause smoke to appear around her, temporarily blinding Yorihime. Toyohime blew her fan at the smoke, as the smoke was blown away and Yorihime could again see, as she finished coughing at the smoke. Hiroko managed to use the time to flick a card out, as she healed herself.

"Sorry, sis," Toyohime said, smiling. "It was freeing you or getting rid of a card."

"Should've gone for the card," Yorihime scolded, as she looked up at Hiroko flicking off another card.

"Hell Card," She said, as the card blasted out a mix of flame and darkness, burning Yorihime's right wrist without it even touching her. Toyohime fanned away some of the flames as she went next to Yorihime, who pointed her sword to the ground.

"Izunome, drive out the impurity in my stead!" Yorihime said, as a spirit appeared behind her, taking notice to Hiroko as she did. She waved her hand, as the darkness mixed with flame turned to purity, nullifying it. "Now, your turn."

"Right," Toyohime said, as she raised a large energy fan. She fanned the flames away from Yorihime, who rushed up to Hiroko, taking a full front of the flames from the attack as she got closer.

"A-Asura," she managed to say through the burning, as a larger version of Yorihime appeared behind her. As Yorihime struck down, the larger version also attacked, however as the larger attack connected, it felt as if it were six blows mixed into one. Hiroko flew down to the ground, landing on the floor as the Hell Card's effects disappeared.

"You alright?" Toyohime asked, as she flew over to her sister.

"Fine," Yorihime answered, looking at the burns on her body. "She's still perfectly fine. Although… Lady Yagokoro's attack must've done something to her. She seems weaker now, and it's not because of the missing arm."

"Lady Yagokoro sure is amazing, isn't she?" Toyohime asked, as she smiled at Yorihime. Yorihime nodded, as she smiled at her as well.

On the ground, Hiroko raised her remaining arm and looked at it. ' _What is… happening?'_ she thought to herself. ' _I'm… losing. Have I been getting weaker?'_ she thought, as she got up to look at them. ' _No… the Lunarian Sage's attack didn't do anything to my power.'_

"Oh, she is getting up after all," Toyohime said, with her fan over her mouth. "She must have some sort of strong will to think she can still beat us."

' _Will…?'_ Hiroko thought, as she looked at the two of them. ' _My strong will?'_

"Don't get too cocky," Yorihime said, as she took a battle stance again. "To match with Lady Yagokoro for as long as she did, and force her to use her full magical power, this girl isn't normal. She must be something special."

' _Something special?'_ Hiroko thought. ' _I'm the second thing to exist in this universe… of course i'm special. I'm the sister of the strongest being in the universe… Nuwa…'_ she thought, as her eyes lit up. ' _Nuwa… yes, that's why i'm here. I forgot my reason for fighting, that was my strong will…'_

"Thank you, lunarians," Hiroko said, as she reached into her pocket. "I remembered what i'm fighting for now… the reason I have such a strong will," she said, as she took a single card out of her pocket. She threw it forward, as it separated into about a dozen different cards, that set themselves somewhere before becoming invisible.

Yorihime blasted through the space between her and Hiroko, avoiding where the cards were all placed. Hiroko turned into cards once again, as a few of them were cut by Yorihime. Hiroko reappeared in front of Toyohime, who raised her fan in an attempt to attack. Hiroko grabbed Toyohime's wrist, however, as the cards she had laid out before all fired lasers towards her. As Yorihime closed in on Hiroko from behind, the Martian span around, still holding Toyohime's wrist, as Yorihime was forced to halt her attack at risk of hitting her own sister.

Toyohime swung back, as she attacked Hiroko with a kick, knocking her back as she grazed some lasers, before her hand seemed to light ablaze. "Agni," she said, as a powerful blast of flame encompassed Toyohime, as it turned into a full pillar of flame. Yorihime was forced back by the heat, as Hiroko let go of Toyohime's wrist, before backing up slightly. "Light Card," Hiroko then said, as she took one card out of her pocket and threw it into the air. A powerful light beam shot straight through the pillar of flame, as it mixed with the fire, before exploding out and disappearing.

"Toyohime!" Yorihime shouted, as Toyohime sighed as she looked at her burns and the damage sustained.

"Looks like… i'm out," Toyohime said, as another card was thrown close to her.

"Darkness Card," Hiroko said, as dark tendrils erupted from it, catching Toyohime in the full brunt of it. Afterwards, Toyohime fell down to the ground, darkness seemingly affecting the purity her body would have otherwise had.

Meanwhile, Kasen had sent her eagle out to observe the events on the ground for her, as she stood in front of all the humans at the Hakurei Shrine. Reimu had left the shrine prior to Kasen's arrival, and thus, did not know of Kasen being there. When she was sure nobody could hear, Ran walked beside Kasen. "Lady Yukari placed you in charge now?"

"Yes," Kasen nodded, as she looked up at the fight in the sky, witnessing the summoning of Asura. "Are you not going to fight?"

"No," Ran shook her head. "I'm looking after these humans. And, I need to look after Chen," she said, as she looked over to the cat playing with some young humans. "Are you not worried about what would happen without the spell card rules?"

"There's no way we'd get them all to consent to the spell card rules, it would be foolish," Kasen said. "So, this is how it must be. Our hope for everyone's survival is in the hands of the rabbit at Eientei and the people to find the injured as quickly as possible. Unless, you wish to help with nursing people back to health?"

"I would like to," Ran said, looking over Gensokyo from the relatively high vantage point. "But that is not what Yukari gave me as my job. In a time like this, I trust in her abilities."

Kasen looked back at her, before nodding. "I see. The Lunarians being on our side has been a great boon for us so far. Now everyone is starting to wake up, I put my trust in them. I will continue observing everything. After all, I would know less about the abilities of everyone than they would themselves. If I do disagree with anything, I will not hesitate to step in," she said, as Ran nodded.

Meanwhile, in Eientei, Byakuren and Kaguya had stayed behind while Satono and Mai went out to search for more wounded. "How is everyone holding up?" Byakuren asked, as she looked at the people lying on the beds.

"They'll all survive," Reisen responded, as she looked at Shou. "She's got it worst of all, if she was attacked slightly higher, she may have died. As it is now, she may be hospitalised here for another day at least, without Lady Yagokoro. The Vampire and Mokou have been recovering very quickly. It's likely they may be able to rejoin the fight before it ends."

"Want some extra help?" Byakuren asked, as Reisen nodded in response.

"That would be nice, yes," she said, as the door to Eientei was opened, with both Mai and Satono storming in with three more injured. Toyohime, Daiyousei and Wriggle.

"I managed to get in the middle of a fight," Satono said, as she was carrying Daiyousei and Wriggle. "I snuck in, of course, and retrieved the wounded. I'm going back now to make sure nothing else goes wrong!" she said, as she ran out. Mai looked a little more troubled, however.

"What's wrong?" Byakuren asked, as Toyohime was placed on a bed, Kaguya looking at her with her eyes narrowed.

"It's… nothing," Mai asked, as she went back out into the battlefield.

Meanwhile, Rumia, Cirno and Mystia were still fighting against Yorimi, who seemed to still not be breaking a sweat. Cirno was still smiling, however, a she fired icicles at the Martian, who managed to melt it using her ability. Yorimi turned around as Rumia charged at her, as she managed to punch to Youkai against a tree, shaking her head as Rumia's manipulation over darkness had affected her. She raised her hand at the tree, as the bark wrapped around Rumia and trapped her in.

Mystia began singing, as Yorimi noticed herself beginning to go blind. She charged straight at Mystia, who managed to finish her short song as Yorimi could no longer see. Mystia was hit by the attack, however, but no follow up came. "Cirno! Attack now!" Mystia shouted.

"Right!" Cirno said, raising both her arms. "Perfect Freeze!" She shouted, as she fired ice at Yorimi, as it caused her arm to slowly begin freezing over. Yorimi thrashed her arm around to try and stop it, however, it appeared to be completely frozen over after about twenty seconds.

"That's it Cirno!" Mystia shouted. "You've got her!" she added, as Cirno was beginning to sweat due to the amount of power she put behind it. Yorimi heard her voice, as she flew as quickly as she could to where it was coming from, swinging her frozen arm at Mystia, as the ice smashed over the night sparrow's head. "A-ah… I guess it's time to go sleep…" Mystia said, as she span around out of dizziness from the attack, before falling to the ground. Yorimi can now see again, as it was only her and the ice fairy left.

"Y-you…" Cirno said, as she looked angrily at her, despite sweating from the amount of power she was using. "You defeated all of my friends! I'll never forgive you! It's time for you to see my true power!"

"Uh-um…" Rumia said, as she was still stuck against the tree. "I'm still here."

Yorimi sighed as she smiled, before turning her back to Cirno and looking at the fight between the Martians and the Tengu. She managed to catch pillars flying out from the mountain and landing in the battlefield. "Hey!" Cirno shouted. "Don't turn your back to the most powerful being in Gensokyo! Now, witness my true power!" she shouted, as she managed to start a blizzard, carrying icicles in it. "Diamond Blizzard!"

Yorimi turned back to her, as she shook her head. She rushed through the icicles, melting some that threatened to hit her, as she stopped in front of Cirno. She raised her hand, as she fired a simple, magical energy blast at Cirno, knocking her far away and flying across the ground. Cirno slowly stood up, before being fired at again, which knocked the fairy out.

"Well… that annoyance is out of the way…" Yorimi muttered, as she looked back at the pillars being launched over. She raised her hand as the pillars appeared to break up, as they turned into tiny pebbles that provided no threat to anyone.

"Well, looks like I found the trouble maker," a voice said, as Yorimi turned to face it. A girl taller than the ones that she had faced before, with green hair and a frog, as well as snake ornament in her hair. "Now, for your offence against Lady Kanako, and as I am a shrine maiden of Gensokyo, I will subdue you!"

"Looks like someone else for me to fight," Yorimi said, as she looked Sanae in the eyes. "That's fine. I already dealt with five more people than I expected to."

"Uhm…" Rumia spoke up. "I am still here, you know! Hey, Shrine Maiden, help me and I won't eat you!"

Sanae seemed to ignore Rumia, as she readied herself for battle. However, before the fight started, clouds above Gensokyo formed quickly and unnaturally, as a thunderstorm seemed to start brewing. "What the- oh no…" Sanae said, as she looked up at the fight in the sky. Yorimi also turned around to look at them.

"Hiroko…" she muttered.

Meanwhile, Kaiya and Alice both looked up at the centre of Gensokyo as the storm started. Alice seemed very concerned at the amount of power she felt from the storm starting, as Kaiya narrowed her eyes at the fight. "Hiroko… don't you dare lose."

"Oh man!" Marisa said, holding her hat as she dodged a lightning strike and looked towards the fight in the centre of Gensokyo. "Oh hey, it's that Lunarian from before! But she looks… different. Wonder what's happenin' with her."

Nazrin looked up from the fight in the centre of Gensokyo, as the lightning struck around near the Myouren Temple. The humans behind her fell to their knees and clasped their hands together, bringing their heads down in a prayer fashion. Nazrin dropped her pagoda as she looked at it. "Is that…"

"Yes," Rinnosuke nodded, as she stood next to her. Rinnosuke too, dropped to his knees, as she clasped his hands together. Nazrin nodded, as she followed suite as well.

"My oh my," Miko said, as she was walking with Futo and Tojiko. She also nodded, as the two of her allies clasped their hands together in a prayer-like fashion as well. "Looks like this is really getting serious now," she said, as she too began praying.

All the humans, as well as Akyuu and Kosuzu, in the Human Village also began praying at the sudden storm. "To think… it would come to this," Akyuu said, as she went on her knees as well.

In Eientei, the sudden storm caused all Kaguya, Reisen and Byakuren to all run out into the Bamboo Forest. Mai and Satono quickly flew back to Eientei, as all five of them looked up into the sky. Mai and Satono both began praying as well, as lightning struck the Bamboo Forest, causing a fire to start. Reisen jumped at the Lightning Strike, as Kaguya immediately flew over to the fire to check on it.

"Oh dear," Byakuren shook her head, as she too reluctantly began praying, as did Reisen.

In the Garden of the Sun, Yuuka flew up above the sunflowers, looking at the storm beginning suddenly and violently. A lightning strike came down on her, but she opened her parasol as it struck, causing the lightning strike to do nothing. "How troublesome," Yuuka sighed, as she fired a laser to meet with another lightning strike that was threatening to strike the garden. "Starting this storm… this battle is starting to annoy me. I'll make sure you regret doing that, soon enough," Yuuka smiled, as she looked up at Hiroko in the air.

"Does this warrant you stepping in?" Ran asked, as she stepped forward, right next to Kasen. Kasen looked back as all the humans went down to their knees, their hands clasped. Chen, seemingly slightly confused, copied her new friends as she did the same.

"..." Kasen seemed hesitant to respond. "As you can see, it is not anyone's place to interfere with this fight anymore. As you can tell, he has granted his power to that Lunarian," Kasen said, as she too began praying in the same fashion.

"What the-!?" Reimu asked, as the storm started. She looked up at the fight. "That Lunarian… what's going-" Reimu began saying, before she clasped both her hands over her mouth. "No way… her? That's impossible…" she said, as she too began praying. "It's that serious, then. For you to entrust your power to the Lunarian…"

Somewhere else in Gensokyo, Tenshi moved away her hat from her eyes as the storm started. She smiled as she looked at it. "Looks like the fun's beginning to start, huh, Iku?" she asked, as she looked over to the messenger of the Dragon Palace. Iku narrowed her eyes as she looked up at Yorihime. "What's wrong? You can feel his power going to her? Are you getting jealous?"

"No," Iku shook her head, as she continued to look up into the sky. "I'm simply worried about what would happen if she misuses his power."

Tenshi laughed as she heard her speak, as she stood up from her previously lying down position, fixing her hat as she did so. Iku turned around to look at the celestial, as she walked past the messenger. "C'mon, Iku. Let's make a grand entrance, shall we? Especially now with him showing interest in the proceedings, it wouldn't be good on you if you don't do anything, would it?" Iku sighed, as she nodded and followed the celestial.

Up in the sky of Gensokyo, Yorihime had lightning surrounding her, as a powerful aura also flared to life. "So, you beat my sister. And you were a match for Lady Yagokoro," Yorihime said, as her eyes turned a pure, light colour. "In that case, I see no reason not to unleash the strongest spirit," she said, as she raised her sword above her, holding it with both her hands above her head, the blunt side pointing straight towards Hiroko. A spirit appeared behind her, shaped like a dragon, as it descended into her body.

"I see…" Hiroko said, as she took a heal card and healed herself, before taking another two cards out.

"That's right…" Yorihime said, closing her eyes. "Ryujin. The Dragon God."


	20. The Storm

Hiroko threw one of the two cards out, as the surrounding area turned into a massive, open, grassy plain, with nothing to obstruct either combatant. The wind blew the grass peacefully, as myriads of flowers, of all different colours dazzling the eye and filling the heart with a sense of relaxation. "Space Card," Hiroko said, afterwards as she turned the other card around between her index and middle finger. She then threw it to the side of her, as it materialised into a blade.

Meanwhile, within her locked room, Nuwa looked up to see the Sword of Creation, far out of her reach, disappear from where it was hung up on the wall. She smiled as she saw it disappear. "Looks like you're going all out now. Just don't make the same mistakes I did, sis."

The blade was a dazzling silver longsword, slightly shorter than Yorihime's own blade, as a blue jewel was encrusted within the blade's hilt. "Sword of Creation," she said, as the blue jewel began shining. A new arm replaced Hiroko's previously missing one, as her clothes seemed to instantly fix and become good as new. She held the blade in two hands, as Yorihime mimicked that movement and held her own blade with both her hands. Yorihime's sword sparked with intense electricity, as the two of them stared at each other from across the plains.

"Let's have a fair fight," the two of them said in sync. After about five seconds of no movement, both combatants blasted forward with their swords ready to strike the other one. They met in the middle, as they matched in speed, and both began swinging their blades at each other. They clashed about fifteen times, with sparks of electricity flying off as they clashed. The only sound to accompany both of their ears was the deafining sound of metal clashing with metal, as well as the crackles of lightning from Yorihime's sword. They both jumped back, as they shuffled around each other, each going ninety degrees in a circle from where they once clashed. Eventually, Yorihime blasted forward, before stopping short and swinging her blade at Hiroko. Hiroko swung her blade slightly lower, so they did not clash, however Hiroko's shorter sword couldn't quite reach Yorihime, as Yorihime drew first blood with a shallow incision just above Hiroko's eyes.

The blue gem within Hiroko's sword began glowing, as she leapt into the air and flew about three hundred meters away from Yorihime. She slashed her sword across the battlefield, as black spikes appeared across the ground, closing in on Yorihime. She readied her blade close to her shoulder, as she sliced down at the spikes, causing an energy wave filled with electrical power to meet with the spikes, halting their advance. Hiroko sliced across again, in the opposite direction, as the same spikes began closing in on Yorihime from behind. The Lunarian jumped up to avoid them, as the two sets of spikes met each other, causing a large pillar to appear behind Yorihime as she jumped. Yorihime swung her blade, causing another energy slash to begin to close in on Hiroko, as the gem glowed once again and an energy shield appeared in front of Hiroko. The shield didn't even crack as it dissipated the energy slash.

Yorihime raised her blade to the sky, as a lightning strike came down and struck Hiroko as she blocked the energy wave. Yorihime used the chance to close in on the Martian, as she raised her blade far above her head and struck down on Hiroko, who raised her blade to block it. However, the power from the attack caused Hiroko to fly down to the ground, her back hitting the green grass as it flattened. Yorihime summoned another lightning strike, which Hiroko managed to roll back away from. The strike hit the grass as a fire started, and Yorihime landed on the other end of the flaming grass.

The two girls let go of the sword with one of their hands, opting to use the blades one handed instead. They ran at each other once again, Hiroko through the flames as she seemed relatively unphased by the burns as she readied for an arcing swing as Yorihime brought her blade back for a stab instead. Yorihime's longer blade gave her an advantage, as she connected with Hiroko first, her blade cutting into the Martian's tendon and causing her to release her blade as it fell to the ground. Yorihime kicked Hiroko into the air afterwards, before chasing after her and swinging her blade at her from all sides, as balls of lighting appeared near her with every swing. In total, she hit her with nineteen swings, as the lightning balls turned into actual lightning and all struck the Martian at once, as she fell back down to the ground.

The fire had spread rapidly, as Hiroko landed close to the flames, rolling back away from them to avoid any serious burns. She raised her functioning left hand towards where the blade landed, as the blade came back into her left hand. The gem glowed once again, as the cut in her tendon patched up and healed. She picked herself up, stabbing the sword into the ground to assist her, as she turned to see Yorihime flying through the fire at her. The gem glowed once again, as rocket appeared and blasted at the Lunarian. Yorihime dodged the rocket, however when it made contact with the ground, the explosion caught her in it and blasted her away, once again causing more fire to appear.

Hiroko staggered as she placed her newly healed right hand on the left side of her abdomen, where Yorihime had done the most damage with her flurry of attacks. She reached into her pocket for a card. However, when she attempted to draw one, lightning struck her card with alarming precision, causing it to crumble to ashes as it burned. Hiroko and Yorihime looked at eachother, each of them being barely within view of each other, and standing against each other's horizon. In the blink of an eye, both their blades met with each other as they dashed forward, causing a singular clash as both their blades pushed against the other blade. Yorihime's higher physical power aided her in pushing the Sword of Creation back, however as it did, the sword glowed blue once again.

A simple blade appeared behind the Martian, as it launched itself at Yorihime, causing her to give up the clash and dodge it. Hiroko used the chance to cut Yorihime's right side, before the gem glowed once again and a large pillar struck Yorihime in her abdomen, causing her to cough up blood as it struck her. Hiroko sliced up the large pillar, as it cut in half instantly as powerful, blue energy separated the left and right side of the pillar. When the energy met with Yorihime at the other end, a small incision appeared straight down the middle of Yorihime's body. She landed on the ground, one knee falling onto the grass as she did so.

' _Damn,'_ Yorihime thought, as she got back up on two feet. Her blade became charged with more energy and electricity as a powerful wind whipped up behind her. The wind boosted her speed as she charged towards Hiroko again, who ran a lot slower than Yorihime did with her fighting against the wind. Yorihime speed allowed her to strike quicker, as she once again cut off Hiroko's arm, however this time it was her right, not the left like she had previously hit. Hiroko growled as the gem in her sword glowed again and her arm repaired. She held the blade in two hands and turned to block Yorihime's many swings. ' _I knew it,'_ Yorihime smiled. ' _Her arms are weaker now.'_

' _This can't be,'_ Hiroko thought, as she was pushed back by Yorihime strikes. She flew backwards quickly, as Yorihime raised her blade once again. A large pillar of electrical energy rose up and pierced the heavens, as she slashed down at Hiroko. The gem glowed once again as she summoned the same energy shield above her to block the attack, before rolling out of the way. The shield was cut in half, as it disappeared, causing Hiroko to gasp. ' _No way… the shield was broken?'_ she thought as she looked up at Yorihime, who jumped.

"I'll end it with this blow!" Yorihime shouted, as she blasted down towards her at full speed, with the energy around the blade pulsating even stronger now. Hiroko quickly scrambled to grab a card, as she attempted to block the attack with her sword in one hand. When Yorihime's attack hit the sword, Hiroko felt like it was on the verge of breaking, before she threw the other card to her left.

"Spear of Erasure," she said, as a spear with a black blade atop it, as well as a red jewel encrusted just below the blade, came to her hand. She brought it up, making an X-like formation around Yorihime's sword, before she used both weapons to push her back.

"Didn't fancy you a dual wielder," Yorihime said, as she gripped her sword tightly. "A spear and sword user, no less."

Hiroko smiled as she looked at Yorihime, bringing both weapons down to her side. "Don't you get it? Sword of Creation, Spear of Erasure. I control both creation and destruction with these weapons in my hands. Not even your Dragon God can save you now."

Yorihime smiled as well, looking at the spear in her hand. "But now you can't draw any cards, can you? Which means," she said, as she closed the distance between her. The two clashed several times, this time with Hiroko using both her weapons to clash with her. ' _It'll take longer for you to heal!'_ she thought, as she swung with all her power to knock away Hiroko's sword, before charging the blade with more energy and stabbing at her. Hiroko jumped back to avoid the stab, but the energy blasted out of the sword in a straight line, hitting her directly as she was pushed back, before the blue gem glowed once again. A metal stake appeared in front of her, as the energy and electricity went into it and discharged down into the ground.

Hiroko took a stance, readying the spear in front of her and the sword, in her other hand, behind her. "That's too bad," she said, almost as if she hadn't taken the full force of an attack. "If this keeps up, I might have to use the spear to destroy you."

' _She's acting different,'_ Yorihime thought, as she looked at the two weapons. She readied her sword as she hovered off the ground. ' _Is this like what Lady Yagokoro once told me?'_ "If you try to use the power of more than one thing greater than you, the risk of that power corrupting you and causing impurities sky rockets dramatically as you begin to lose control of your power. That's why, even if we have the ability, we never use the powers of two gods at the exact same time. My master once told me that. I guess she might've learned that from someone like you," She said, as she raised her blade above her. A dragon-like energy in appearance appeared behind her, as it went into her sword, causing a long, snake like dragon of pure energy to go around her sword, the tip of the sword serving as the end of its tongue. "If that's truly the case, I am no longer your opponent. I am your salvation!" She shouted, as she blasted down at her.

Hiroko raised both her weapons to block the downward slash, however the dragon detached from the sword, as it plummeted into Hiroko and the ground, causing a massive explosion of electricity and causing Hiroko to lose her guard, as Yorihime's sword cut her once again, before she turned the blade around cut up her body. When she went to follow up, however, Hiroko jumped away, as she panted for breath, as she spat some blood out on the floor. Yorihime also wiped some blood from the incision that was made down her body after the pillar. She too, was beginning to lose breath. Below the both of them, the green grass was now dyed a crimson red, as the previously awe-inspiring rainbow of flowers were now flattened, and were drenched with only the colour of roses. The two combatants looked at each other.

"You stand in the way of my ideals…" Hiroko said, as she readied both her weapons again.

"Your impurity will threaten the balance of the universe itself…" Yorihime said, as she held her sword in two hands, readying to blast at full speed.

"That's why," they both said in sync. "I'll make this the last charge!"

The both blasted at each other, however halfway through the charge, Hiroko brought her hand to the very bottom of the spear, reaching it out to get a large range. This range managed to reach Yorihime first, as the spear stabbed straight through her right side, the spear reaching across Hiroko's body as she held the spear in her right. This caused Yorihime to falter, as Hiroko drove her sword through Yorihime's left side, causing her to drop her sword.

"I… win," Hiroko said, as all the energy left Yorihime's body, as well as the energy in the surroundings and from the sword, before it went straight up into the sky. Yorihime laughed, as she grabbed Hiroko's dress near the center of her chest, preventing her from escaping.

"That's funny…" Yorihime said, as she spat out a bit of blood. "My aim now was to get rid of the impurity within you caused by using both the weapons…" she said, as she raised the Martian up. The clouds overhead parted, as light began shining through. "So from my perspective, this is my winning strike."

Hiroko gasped as she looked up to see the Dragon God fly down from the sky, it's claws raised ready to attack Hiroko. The Dragon God did so, as three, deap marks for each claw appeared on Hiroko's body. Afterwards, a large lighting strike, shaped as a cylinder, struck down on the both of them, about one hundred meters in diameter. The strike caused Hiroko to drop both her weapons as it hit, as she screamed upon being hit with the attack. She looked down at Yorihime, who laughed slightly as she smiled. When the strike had disappeared, Yorihime's smile was still engraved on her face, as she collapsed and fell forward, releasing Hiroko from her grip as she passed out.

"My… salvation…?" Hiroko asked, as she lay on the ground and coughed up blood, her vision blurring from the attack. "I see now… that's what happened. In that case… you… win," she said, as she reached over to grab the spear, before taking a card out of her pocket and dropping it. "Space Card…" she said, as she teleported her, and both the spear, inside Nuwa's chamber, where she crawled up the wall to find her footing.

"Hiroko!" Nuwa shouted upon seeing her. "Are you okay!? H-hang in there i'll," she began saying, as she tried to move her arm forward, to no avail as her hand was stuck within the shackles.

"I'm fine…" Hiroko said, as she placed the spear back in place, as it was surrounded with magic. "Don't worry… i'll get this… patched up…" she said, as she staggered around and placed her hand on her head.

"A-alright…" Nuwa said, as she began resting herself again. "I trust you," she said, as Hiroko disappeared with her space card again, before coming back with the sword, placing it back in its place as it was surrounded with magic again. Hiroko reached into her pocket, throwing six heal cards, just to be sure, into the air as they sprinkled green dust over her.

"Good as new," Hiroko said, as she placed a hand on her neck and moved it around, to remove any stiffness. She walked over to her sister, as Nuwa looked up at her.

"Do you understand now? Exactly what… really happened?" she asked, as Hiroko nodded in response. "How nice of whoever fought against you… making sure you didn't make my same mistake. I'm not a bad person, I just made a mistake and used both weapons too long. Although… does doing what I did make me a bad person anyway… so I deserve to be here?"

Hiroko walked all the way over to her, before she bent down slightly and wrapped her arms around her sister. "No… of course you're not. That's why this is all happening, you know?" Hiroko said, as Nuwa tried to move her arms as well, but to no avail. She eventually gave up and lay her head on her younger sister's shoulder. "Everything'll be fine soon… I found a nice place with some nice people, one of which knows you from so long ago."

"What'll happen after?"

"Whatever happens after… we'll just have to protect each other from the gods," Hiroko said.

"It's been centuries since you put your arms around me like that… say, does this have a name yet?" she asked, as Hiroko let go of her and nodded.

"Yes, it does. It's called hugging. It's a sign of affection," Hiroko explained, still kneeling down close to her sister. "Basically, it means I care for you."

"Oh, I see…" Nuwa said, as she looked into Hiroko's eyes. "In that case, I care for you too!"

Hiroko smiled in response, as she wiped a tear from her eye. "Not long now," Hiroko said. "I'll be back sometime soon. Then, we'll get you out. You'll be able to… move again… see the outside again… see someone… other than me again…" she began listing, as tears formed in her eyes and she clenched her fists. Nuwa tried to move towards her quickly, but was violently forced back by the chains around her wrists and ankles.

"Aaah!" Nuwa screamed in pain, as she felt the restraints harder than before. The shackles had been on so long, it had cut off blood flow around her wrists and ankles, as well as her feet and hands. Due to this, when when the shackles dragged her back, she couldn't help but yelp. Hiroko shook her tears away quickly and went over to Nuwa for comfort.

"Nuwa," Hiroko said, as she went to grab her hand, before stopping. Due to their being no blood in her hands, if she touched them it would likely cause more pain. "I'm fine," she said, with a warm smile. "Don't worry about me. I was just thinking about… how happy we'll be when everything's all over."

Nuwa nodded in response, also smiling. Hiroko took a Space Card out of her pocket again, as she took one last look at Nuwa. "Bye-bye!" Nuwa said, as Hiroko smiled again.

"See you soon," she said, as she threw the space card in the air. She appeared next to Yorihime, as she placed her hand onto Yorihime's arm and used another space card, taking the Lunarian to the Lunar Capital. She took another card, as her eyes began to glow pink. "Telekinesis Card," she said, as she lifted Yorihime. She placed the Lunarian down onto a bed to allow her to recover, before preparing another space card.

Meanwhile, in Gensokyo, everyone stopped praying, however the storm continued rumbling the fear of anyone within the Human Village. A lightning strike hit a house, as a woman screamed, claiming that it was her house that was hit. A fire started in the distance where the lightning struck. Kosuzu nervously went over to Akyuu.

"W-what's going to happen?" Kosuzu asked, as Akyuu looked troubled.

"Lightning strikes land around the same place multiple times quite often, especially more often with the whole storm concentrated in Gensokyo," Akyuu said, her tone melancholy.

"So that means…" Kosuzu started, as Akyuu nodded.

"We're at a risk of dying here," Akyuu said, before looking at the sky. ' _I only have five years left… but the chronicle should know of this moment in history especially. I wish we had someone who could help us.'_

"And we've got nobody here to help us…" Kosuzu said, as Akyuu was thinking the same thing.

"Don't get too hasty to conclusions," a voice said, as everyone in the human village looked over. In front of them was a girl, fairly tall, with a black blazer over a buttoned up white blouse, as well as a matching black skirt over socks that went to just below her knee, giving a somewhat professional look. She also had long, brown hair and a black hat. "I'll help you."

Nobody seemed convinced by her, as Akyuu narrowed her eyes and walked over to her. "In all my memory, i've never seen anyone who looks like you," Akyuu said, stopping just short of her. The top of her head was about up to the girl's chest. "Who are you?"

"Ah, of course, my plans to stay anonymous fail," the girl said, as she took her hat off and bowed. "I'm Kaiya. Kaiya Amari."

"Never heard it," Akyuu said, as Kaiya sighed.

"Of course you haven't," Kaiya said, putting her hat back on her head. "I'm sure someone who seems as smart as you figured it out. Martian Minister of Discovery, Kaiya Amari, The Eyes of Mars. If you want my full title."

The entire crowd of humans began shouting, except Akyuu and Kosuzu. The woman whose house was struck shouted, louder than everyone else. "It's all your fault! You ruined everything I had! Do you have any idea how many people you could have, and probably have killed!?" among the shouting, some curse words were thrown at her as well. Kaiya sighed as she heard it.

"Or I could just leave you all here to die with them!" Kaiya shouted, as the shouting died down a little. "Look, i've not killed anyone. I don't think any of us have, on purpose, at least. I don't exactly like you bystanders getting involved, and my ability is to transport anything anywhere. So i'll offer you this. Stay here and risk getting struck by lightning, or let me get you all out of here to safety. Don't worry, i'll bring you all back here after everything's over. Oh," she said as she looked at the woman whose house was struck, "and i'll pay for your house repairs and any of the things within it. As well as repairs for anyone else who needs them. So, want to come with me or not?"

Some humans still appeared annoyed with her, but most seemed to calm down. Akyuu narrowed her eyes, however, noticing something that few others seemed to. "And where are you going to take us? Clearly outside Gensokyo, or else you wouldn't offer. People in the outside world would get skeptical of people appearing out of nowhere. Do you mean to take us to Mars?"

"Oh, no, no," Kaiya shook her head. "I've got somewhere different in mind. Don't worry, it's got no population on it, and it's got a stable atmosphere. It might be a little hot, though, so I hope you packed some short sleeved clothes."

The people seemed to reluctantly walk forward. Akyuu stepped back away from her. "If you get us killed," Akyuu started, looking up to her eyes. "There are many people, much stronger than you, who will never forgive you."

"Oh, i'm quite aware," Kaiya said, as her eyes glowed red. Her, as well as everyone in the village, were transported away.

They arrived in a ruined city, as many people looked around at the remains. Everything was broken, and whoever broke it, didn't seem to bother clearing it up. One person picked something up and looked at it, deducing that it was at least hundreds of millions of years old. Kaiya looked across at the ruined city as a feeling of nostalgia overcame her. That wasn't the only feeling though, as the planet was slightly warmer than earth, causing people to start sweating. Despite the heat, patches of fresh water could be found in the city, and further out than the city appeared to be a large lake that glimmered in the red sunlight. Kaiya apologised for the heat and lack of hospitality, before Akyuu approached her.

"Where are we?" Akyuu asked, as Kaiya sighed.

"Planet we called… well, we never really gave it a name," Kaiya said, stepping forward. "Closest planet to its star, but it's still in it's habitable zone. The star itself is brighter, hotter than the Sun, so that's why it's warmer here. Civilization was destroyed a long time ago. From a historical standpoint, you stand on the planet that started the disbelief in gods and began the advancements in science. My home."

"I see," Akyuu said, as she looked at the ruins. "Why was it destroyed?"

"I have no idea," Kaiya shook her head. "But, as we began looking into science, the planet was destroyed. There's probably a correlation. I was gifted amongst these people, I could teleport things anywhere, and I was the object of some people's scientific pursuits. When the civilization began being destroyed, I teleported away, selfishly not taking anyone with me. I went to another planet, and I observed from there more planets. I continued warping, planet to planet, alone, before finally finding people who would take me in on Mars. I've lived there ever since, observing the great beyond and finding life. Of course, I found earth first, but in total I found another fifty three planets with life forms on it, in just this galaxy alone. It's become a hobby of mine."

"So… you lost everything?" Akyuu asked.

"No, no," Kaiya shook her head. "Well, yeah I suppose I did. But i've gained so much back now. A friend I see as family, another city full of people to socialise with. So I don't think of it that way. Don't worry about that," she said, as Akyuu nodded. "I like you," Kaiya said, changing the subject as she looked at Akyuu. "When this is all over, I might socialise with you some more."

Akyuu laughed, as she smiled. "I wouldn't get too attached," Akyuu said. Kaiya turned her whole body around to face her, her eyes glowing red. "You're going?"

"Yeah, i've still got some of your allies to beat up. I've got a bet with someone that i'll beat ten of you guys before she does. She's on one, i'm on three. Need to boost myself up. Don't worry, if I win, we'll retreat from Gensokyo immediately."

Akyuu smiled. "In that case, i'll be rooting for you to win on that bet. Hieda no Akyuu, by the way," she said, as Kaiya nodded. "Say, why didn't you take us to Mars?" Akyuu asked.

"Because if I let humans run around in the Martian City, our boss wouldn't be all that pleased," Kaiya said. "Well, anyway goodbye now," she said, as she teleported away.

"She wasn't so bad, was she?" Akyuu asked Kosuzu, who nodded.

"I was surprised. I thought she was going to kill us all," Kosuzu said, as Akyuu nodded.

"So did I," Akyuu said, before looking at the red light on the ground from the red star that the planet orbited. "It's the first time I ever left Gensokyo. I want to go explore a bit," Akyuu said, as she began walking around, with Kosuzu walking with her. "I wonder what happened to Keine…" she muttered, as she looked around.

Kaiya reappeared in the centre of the human village, looking around the place. She was about to sigh in relief of not seeing anyone, before a hint of gold caught her eye and three people turned a corner. "My, my, my," the tallest one of the group, standing between the short, white haired one and the one without legs. "One minute they're all here, the next minute they're all gone. If I didn't have better hearing, i'd have half a mind to say you brutally slaughtered them all and hid the evidence."

"Who's to say I didn't?" Kaiya asked, as the person smiled.

"Because what would you gain, girl?" she asked. "I observed your actions. You're definitely not the homicidal type, so my mind is at ease knowing they're all alive, somewhere. You contributions to helping the humans demand praise."

"Why thank you," Kaiya said, bowing as if she were going along with a game.

"Usually, i'd be praising you now, at least, that's what one side is saying," she said, before her face became slightly more serious and she raised her shaku. "However, as I am a resident of Gensokyo, I must see your defeat. I, Toyosatomimi no Miko, along with Mononobe no Futo and Soga no Tojiko, will defeat you here!"

Kaiya smiled, as she closed her eyes and tipped her hat slightly. "Great, I get to double my count in one fell swoop," she said, as she opened her eyes and readied for battle. "I'm Kaiya Amari, Martian Minister of Discovery. I will gracefully accept your offer to lose to me," she said, as Miko and Kaiya both smiled at each other, Futo also smiling along with Miko, whereas Tojiko seemed more serious about the ordeal.

Near the Youkai Mountain, Sanae separated her hands and smiled as she took her gohei, with white paper at the end of it, and pointed it to Yorimi. "Sea Opening, Moses' Miracle," Sanae said, as she seemed to split into two, hazy figures before disappearing. Yorimi's eyes widened as she disappeared, before she was struck from above, two waves of water appearing as Sanae hit the ground, causing Yorimi to be blasted back. Sanae then threw five energy bullets in front of her in a star pattern, as energy lasers connected them all together to make a star. She fired the red star at Yorimi, who managed to find her footing just before being hit, allowing her to react to the attack and leap through a gap in the centre of the star.

Yorimi raised her hand, as the water from the previous spell began to rise and circle around Sanae, before encompassing around her. The water then solidified into ice, trapping the shrine maiden inside. Yorimi smiled as she looked at the iced over figure. "Six down," she said, as she walked past the shrine maiden.

"I'm not invisible, am I?" Rumia asked as Yorimi walked past her, ignoring the youkai. She heard ice cracking as she walked away, causing her eyes to widen as she span around to see Sanae thawing out.

"You've got to be kidding me," Yorimi said, as Sanae was completely freed. A lightning strike echoed in the distance as she thawed out, and the shrine maiden turned around to look at the Martian. "Just when I was proud of myself for taking down more than Kasumi. How did you do that, anyway?"

"My ability is causing miracles to happen," Sanae said, smiling. "Perhaps that has something to do with it?" she asked, as she raised her gohei. When she brought it back down, a serpent materialised and flew down to Yorimi, who jumped into the air to dodge it. Sanae raised her gohei to her upper right, as small, white, star like bullets began flying at Yorimi from the sky. The bullets hit her down onto the ground, where the serpent slithered towards her as she was trying to stand. Yorimi quickly went down to one knee, as red pulsed around her hand when she touched the ground. An iron wall appeared from beneath the ground in front of her, which the snake ran into and knocked itself out. The wall then disappeared.

"Miracle, Midday Supernova," Sanae said as a white ball appeared above Yorimi, which began raining down bullets onto her. Yorimi tried to run out from under the ball, however as she was trying to escape some of the bullets made direct contact with her, causing her to stumble. As she stumbled, Sanae ran up next to her, as she arched her leg around and kicked Yorimi away, who began rolling across the ground. As Yorimi stumbled to gain ground, a lightning strike from the storm above came down and struck her directly, likely influenced by Sanae's ability. The lightning strike caused Yorimi to be knocked out from the strong, electrical shock backed up by the storm being caused by the Dragon God's power.

Sanae walked over to her, being careful as she went to check she was definitely out. Sanae nodded to herself as she was pleased with the result. The electricity surrounding Yorimi seemed to disappear randomly into the Earth, as Suwako popped out of the ground with a splash of water. "Well done, Sanae!" Suwako complimented as she went over to Yorimi as well.

"Ah, Lady Suwako," Sanae nodded, as she showed the proper respect.

"Kanako said she wanted this one as well, to bring the amount of knocked out Martian's in the Moriya Shrine to two," Suwako said, as she knelt down next to Yorimi's body. "Something about claiming we beat both and raising the amount of faith we have because of it. C'mon, Sanae, help me bring her up the mountain."

Sanae nodded, as she knelt down with Suwako. "Yes, Lady Suwako," she said, as she helped pick her up and take her up the mountain.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the Youkai Mountain, Mamizou Futatsuiwa stopped running as she saw the fighting outside the Youkai Mountain. She smiled as she saw it, holding onto her hat as one hundred racoons appeared around her. "Good thing I got away from the ship when I did," Mamizou thought out loud. "That sword user was nothing but trouble. But now it looks like we found a party elsewhere. Come on, friends, we ally with the tengu."

In the middle of the battle, Momiji growled as she found herself surrounded on all sides. "Tsk," she said, as she used her sword to cut through some of them and step away from attacks from behind. "This isn't looking good…" she muttered, as she blocked an attack with her shield before striking back with her sword. Despite her best efforts, however, in the centre of the battlefield Momiji found herself getting overwhelmed from all sides. She tried to use her tengu speed to run through the enemies, succeeding for a very brief while, however she suffered a laser attack from her side that stopped her in her tracks. Eventually, the martians around her focused on her and knocked her out with a combination of physical and magical attacks.

"Damn it," Aya said, as she quickly went down to where Momiji was defeated, before raising her fan and using 'Tornado, Guidepost for the Advent of the Divine Grandson' which causing a tornado around her, protecting her and Momiji. As the tornado surrounded them, Aya picked up the white wolf tengu and flew up to the tengu village, going into a house that presumably belonged to Aya and placed her down on a bed. "That's what happens when you try to play a hero in battle," Aya said, as she went out the house quickly.

While Aya was gone, even if it was for a few seconds at most, racoons had ran over to the fighting area, jumping onto the martian's faces and blinding them temporarily. Mamizou herself was firing danmaku shaped like dogs, which ran along the ground and charged into the fray, birds, which dive bombed into the area, as well as frog danmaku that hopped around and exploded near the Martians. Aya flew over to the source of all the danmaku.

"Thanks for the back up, starting to need it," Aya said, as she looked over to the battlefield. Mamizou smiled.

"Don't you worry, tengu girl," Mamizou said, as she walked forward towards the battlefield. "You can withdraw all the tengu now. I got this."

"Are you serious?" Aya asked, as Mamizou turned around with a smug look on her face. Aya narrowed her eyes slightly. "You are, aren't you?"

"Speed like yours and the other tengu should be needed elsewhere. Go fight the green haired little girl, if she gets back," Mamizou said, turning back around to look at the fighting. "Are you doubting the abilities of me and my animal friends?"

"Of course not," Aya said, fanning herself as she smiled. "I just think the tengu could do it quicker."

"That's been working well so far," Mamizou said, as Aya seemed to get more serious.

"Fine," Aya said, as she flew into the air. "There's people I need to bring through here. You better make this quick. In this storm, it might not end well for the humans."

"Got it," Mamizou nodded, as Aya flew over to the tengu to have as many of them as possible retreat back up the mountain. When all the conscious tengu had fled back up the mountain, all the squirrels ran back to Mamizou as the danmaku stopped.

Mamizou lowered her head, holding her hat in her hand as she smiled menacingly, which was made even more menacing by the lightning strike that landed close behind her, causing the shadows of her and the animals to cast onto their enemies. "Apologies for the disappointment those tengu brought you," Mamizou said. "I promise, I aim never to disappoint as much as them. I hope you can provide entertainment for all these animals, and especially, for myself. If not, this will be over quicker than you want it to be," Mamizou threatened, as she raised her head and used 'Transformation, Pseudo-Exorcism of a Stupid Shrine Maiden' to transform into a Reimu-looking figure. She went into the air and began flying around, as homing amulets and more exploding frogs appeared. Several animal danmaku and squirrels also began attacking the Martians.


End file.
